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Ube  XHniversiti?  of  Cbicago 

FOUNDED   BY  JOHN   D.   ROCKEFELLER 


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A  STUDY  IN  THE  PSYCHOLOGY 
OF  RITUALISM 


A  DISSERTATION 

SUBMITTED   TO   THE    FACULTY    OF    THE    GRADUATE   SCHOOL  OF   ARTS   AND 

LITERATURE    IN    CANDIDACY    FOR    THE    DEGREE    OF 

DOCTOR   OF  PHILOSOPHY 

(department  of  philosophy) 


BY 

FREDERICK  GOODRICH  HENKE 


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■\r.''.:  :. 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 
CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


3\f  \5C 


Copyright  1910  By 
The  Univeesity  of  Chicago 


All  Eights  Reserved 


Published  October  1910 


Composed  and  Printed  By 

The  University  of  Chicago  Press 

Chicago,  Illinois,  U.S.A. 


CONTENTS 

PART  I:   THE  CEREMONY  p,^,^ 

Chapter  I.    Description  of  the  Ceremony  .       .       .  3-7 

Religious  and  Moral  Problems  Studied  Today  by  Conservative  Theo- 
logians to  Keep  the  Dogmas  and  Traditions  of  Christianity  Intact 
and  by  Scientists  to  Get  Hold  of  Fundamental  Truths — Object  of 
Thesis  a  Critical  Study  of  Ritualism  from  the  Psychological  Point  of 
View  for  the  Purpose  of  Determining  the  Laws  of  Its  Origin,  Develop- 
ment, and  Survival.  Thesis  Stated — General  Description  of  the  Inti- 
chiuma  Ceremonies  of  the  Blacks  of  Australia — The  Intichiuma  of  the 
Hakea  Flower  Totem — Movements  and  Chants  of  the  Ceremony  and 
Their  Relation  to  the  Life  of  the  Natives — Decorations:  In  the  Zuni 
Hlahewe  Ceremony  for  Rain  and  the  Intichiuma  of  the  Kmu  Totem 
of  the  Arunta  Tribe — Decorations  Deal  with  Things  and  Situations  in 
the  Life  of  the  Natives — Relation  of  Movements  to  Decorations — • 
Both  Often  Indicative  of  Emotion. 

Chapter  II.     General  Characteristics  of  Ritualism        .        8-16 

Ceremony  Defined:  (i)  Ceremony  Always  a  Social  Reaction — Brinton's 
Individual  Rites  Also  Social — Reasons  for  Calling  Ceremony  Social — 
(2)  Practical  Character  of  the  Ritual  Emphasized — Primitive  Ritual 
Covers  Every  Act  of  Life — The  Cherokee  Find  of  1887  and  1888  Cited 
— Toda  Ritual  Concerned  with  the  Dairy,  Dairymen,  and  Buffaloes — 
Rain  Ceremonies  in  Dry  Climate.  Social  Organization  and  Matters 
of  Sex  Controlled  by  Ritual — (3)  Ritual  Symptomatic — Ceremony 
Not  Imposed  from  Without  but  Reflects  the  Social  Consciousness  of 
Group  Concerned — Symptomatic  Character  Illustrated  from  Chinese 
Ceremonies  Performed  for  Their  Dead — Ritual  Shows  the  Relation 
between  the  Participant  and  Other  Selves  Involved  in  the  Ceremony 
— (4)  Symbolic  Character  of  Ritualism— A  Meaning  Implied — Cere- 
mony Performed  (a)  to  Obtain  Something  That  Cannot  Be  Had  through 
Means  Ordinarily  Employed  or  (b)  to  Accomplish  Something  without 
Being  Directly  Implicated — Illustration  from  a  Malay  Charm  Book — 
Primitive  Ceremonies  Usually  Dramatic  Representations — Circum- 
cision, Subincision,  Knocking  Out  of  Teeth  Symboli'.e  Group  ^'alue? — 
Rites  Often  Reproduce  Sacred  History  of  T'ribe'  C.'-ses  CitM-^'ype 
of  Social  Consciousness  of  Savage  Determines  the 
Ceremonials.  -     ■ '  - 


ie  Character  of  his 


PART  II:   THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  RITUALISM 
Chapter  III.    Determining  Instincts  and  Impulses  of  the 

Primitive  Ceremony i9~35 

Primitive  Peoples  Unable  to  Give  an  Intelligent  Account  of  the  Origin 
of  Their  Rituals — Danger  of  the  Psychologists'  Fallacy  in  Looking 

iii 


218497 


IV  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Down  from  a  Higher  to  a  Lower  Stage  of  Culture — Three  Guiding 
Principles  Adopted— Comparative  Psychology  the  Field  in  Which  to 
Look  for  Impulses  and  Instincts  Fundamental  in  Ancient  Society — 
(i)  Food  Impulse — Its  Place  in  Primitive  Man's  Life — Manifests 
Itself  in  Totally  Different  Activities  in  Primitive  Men  and  Women — 
Ceremony  Representative  of  Both  but  Man  the  Leader — (2)  Sex  In- 
stinct— Aboriginal  Woman  the  Social  Nucleus — Marriage  by  Capture 
Probably  the  Normal  Form  in  Case  of  Hostility  between  Groups;  for 
the  Rest  Marriage  through  Barter,  Service,  or  Purchase  in  Vogue; 
Content  of  Primitive  Ceremony  Symptomatic  of  Sex  Impulse — In- 
stances Cited  from  Bedouins  of  Sinai,  Blacks  of  Central  Australia — 
Sex  Impulse  a  Determining  Factor  in  Circumcision,  Subincision,  Cere- 
monies to  Promote  Growth  of  Breasts,  Love  Philters,  and  Various 
T3T)es  of  Corroborees — Illustration  from  Bushmen  of  Kalahari — (3) 
Fear — A  Derivative  Instinct — Fear  in  Animals  and  Children — A  Part 
of  Man's  Original  Endowment  but  Is  Gradually  Rationalized  and 
Made  Adaptive — The  "Great  Fear"  a  Leading  Motive  in  Rain  Cere- 
mony, Intichiuma  Ceremonies,  and  Snake  Dance  of  the  Hopi  Indians — 
Wollunqua  Ceremonies  Described — Taboo,  Various  Types  of  Divina- 
tion, Funeral  Ceremonies,  and  Propitiatory  Rites  Due  to  Fear — (4) 
Anger — Instinct  of  Conservation  under  the  Offensive  Form — Self- 
Assertion  Its  Chief  Characteristic — Always  Social — A  Chinese  Cere- 
mony in  Which  Anger  Is  the  Impelling  Motive — Anger  and  the  Black 
Art — The  War  Dance — There  May  Be  an  Overlapping  of  Impulses  in 
the  Ceremony — Play  Activities  Have  Practical  Implications — All 
Activities  of  the  Psychophysical  Organism  Due  to  More  or  Less 
Automatic  Action  Included  in  This  Chapter — Ritualism  Built  upon 
Man's  Native  Endowment  but  Not  Consciously  as  Ritualism. 

Chapter  IV.    The  Place  of  Attention  in  the  Primitive 

Ceremony 36-45 

Study  of  Organization  of  Human  Consciousness  Throws  Light  upon 
Question  of  Origin  and  Development  of  Ceremony  as  Far  as  There  Is 
Indication  of  Thought— Brinton's  and  Pfleiderer's  View  of  the  Imita- 
tive Origin  Discussed— Pantomimicry  Implies  Representation — Man's 
Native  Endowment  of  Instincts  and  Impulses  Makes  Him  Neither 
ab  htitio  Religious  Nor  Blindly  Imitative  of  All  He  Sees — The  Prob- 
lematic Situation  the  Occasion. for  Thought — Attention  Born  Out  of 
Crisis — RitfJill  '.Represe^xt?  Qfy^tajlized  Group  Habits — Many  Cere- 
monies Had  'i'heir  Origin  in  a  f'rotlepiatic  Situation — Two  Methods  of 
Solving,  tlcq  Pz-qbleiri:,' Jf)!  Tp;aj-''and  Error  Method — (2)  Thought — 
Primiti'vc  "'f  ho'agh*t  'DescHb^d-^'Dualism  of  Self  and  the  World  in  the 
Ceremony — Crisis  Defined — Attention  a  JSIatter  of  Individual  Initia- 
tive— Magical  Ceremony  Shows  Crude  Thought — Illustrations  from 
Malay  Peninsula  and  Alurray  Island — Frazer's  and  Haddon's  View 
of  Magic  Too  Closely  Akin  to  Natural  Science — The  Adaptive  Reaction 
Not  a  Ceremony  When  First  It  Appears  but  Merely  a  IVIethod  of  Meet- 


CONTENTS  V 

PACE 

ing  a  Particular  Situation — When  Reaction  Has  Become  a  Group 
Habit  among  Primiti\e  Peoples,  It  Is  ipso  facto  Ritualized. 

Chapter  V.    The  Psychology  of  the  Supernaturalism 

IN  the  Ritual 46-56 

Contents  of  the  Ceremony  from  Psychological  Point  of  View — Person- 
ified Nature  Powers,  Spirits,  Preternatural  and  Supernatural  Powers  as 
Elements  in  the  Primitive  Social  Consciousness.  Docs  the  Savage 
Regard  .\I1  Things  "as  Animated  with  a  Life  Like  His  Own"? — In- 
stincts Social — Social  Consciousness  Logically  Prior  to  Consciousness 
of  Self — Man's  Native  Endowment  Normally  Functions  in  the  Direc- 
tion of  Recognizing  and  Creating  Social  Objects — The  Unusual,  Strik- 
ing, or  Moving  Object  Viewed  as  Social  by  Primitive  Man — Animatism 
Present  Also  in  Animals  and  Children — Psychological  Basis  of  Animism 
— Illustrations  from  Negroes,  Amerinds,  and  Sandwich  Islanders — 
Tendency  of  Primitive  Man  to  Assume  More  and  More  Spirits — 
Other  Sources  of  Belief  in  Invisible  Agency — Visits  from  Spirit 
World  in  Dreams — Spirit  Possession  with  Subsequent  Exorcism 
through  Ritual — Animatism  and  Animism  Serve  to  Explain  Reference 
in  Ccremon}'  to  Living  Objects  and  Spirits — Transition  from  Poly- 
daemonism  to  Polytheism  and  to  Monotheism:  (i)  In  Case  of  Semites 
— (2)  By  Way  of  Fetishism  to  Idolatry  and  from  There  Up — (3)  From 
Primitive  Man's  Attitude  toward  the  Heavenly  Bodies — The  Method 
of  Transition  .\lways  Concrete — Conclusion. 


Chapter  VI.  The  Relation  of  the  Development  of  the 
Ritual  to  Changes  within  the  Social  Conscious- 
ness        57-62 

Ritual  Tends  to  Develop  as  the  Social  Consciousness  of  the  Group 
Changes — Situations  Conducive  to  Profound  Changes  in  the  Social 
Consciousness:  (i)  Transition  from  One  Type  of  Life  to  Another — (2) 
Influence  of  the  Great  Man — (3)  Great  Calamity  or  Special  Streak  of 
Good  Fortune — (4)  Rise  of  the  Scientific  Attitude — (5)  Rational 
Socialization  of  the  Universe  of  Social  Objects. 

General  Stages  of  the  Development  of  the  Ritual:  (i)  The  Undiffer- 
entiated Stage — Primitive  Man's  Lack  of  Logical  -Analysis  Resulted 
in  Long  and  Most  Elaborate  Rituals — In  This  Stage  Religion,  Phi- 
losophy, Science,  Medicine,  Ethics,  and  the  Techniques  of  Everyday 
Life  Were  within  the  Borders  of  the  Ritual — Religious  Element 
Approved  by  the  Group:  Irreligious  and  Immoral  Not — (2)  Diflerenti- 
ation  Begun  by  Comprehending  Illogical  and  Unscientific  Implications 
of  the  Ceremony  and  by  Appreciating  the  Value  of  Individual  Experi- 
ence— (3)  Stage  in  Which  Deit^'  Is  Completely  Socialized — Ritual  Per- 
formed to  Make  the  Content  of  the  Socialized  Alter  One's  Own  or  to 
Develop  Capacity  for  Moral  Action. 


VI  CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Chapter  VII.    The  Development  of  the  Ritual  Illus- 
trated           63-78 

Propose  to  Examine  the  Rituals  of  the  Semites  in  Various  Stages 
of  Their  Historic  Evolution,  as  Well  as  the  Origin  and  Development 
of  the  Eucharist,  in  Order  to  Illustrate  that  the  Development  of 
Rituals  Depends  upon  Changes  within  the  Social  Consciousness — 
.  Life  of  Nomadic  Semites,  Their  Social  Consciousness,  and  Their 
Religion  Described — Sacrifice  a  Sacramental  Communion — Sacrifice 
Described — Religion  of  Israelites  under  the  Leadership  of  Moses 
Nomadic — Religion  and  Ritual  of  the  Canaanites— Sacrifice  No 
Longer  Sacramental  Communion  but  a  Gift  to  Which  Deity  Was 
Entitled — Israelites  Overcame  Canaanites — Their  Nomadic  ReHgion 
Became  a  Peasant  Religion  and  Jahwe  the  God  of  Israel  the  Lord  of 
Palestine — Reconstruction  of  Old  Conceptions  by  Prophets — Pro- 
phetic Social  Consciousness  Opposed  to  Peasant  Ritual — Babylonian 
Exile  a  Crisis  in  Which  the  Pohtical,  Social,  and  Religious  Char- 
acter of  the  Hebrews  Was  Transformed — Sense  of  Sin  Emerges — The 
Legal  Religion  the  Outcome — Sacrificial  System  Described. 
Religion  Stereotyped  in  Laws  Reduced  to  Writing  Hard  to  Change — 
Jesus  a  Great  Reformer  Who  Gave  the  Idea  of  a  Completely  Socialized 
God — Instituted  a  Meal  to  Commemorate  His  Death — Eucharist  and 
Agape  Celebrated  Together  by  Early  Christian  Church  but  Began  to  Be 
Separated  in  Time  of  Paul — Magni,  Harnack,  and  Gardner  on  the 
Influence  of  Ethnic  Religion  on  the  Eucharist — Description  of  the 
Eucharist  from  Dionysius  Areopagites  Shows  a  Profound  Change  in 
the  Underlying  Social  Consciousness— Doctrine  of  Transubstantiation 
— Challenged  and  Reconstructed  during  the  Reformation — Science  of 
Bacteriology  and  Its  Effect  on  the  Lord's  Supper — Conditions  under 
Which  the  Eucharist  May  Continue  to  Survive. 

PART  III:  THE  SURVIVAL  OF  RITUALISM 
Chapter  VIII.    The  Survival  of  the  Ceremony  .       .       .       81-93 

Ceremonies  That  Have  Lost  Their  Practical  Significance  Soon  Fall 
Away — Modern  Society  so  Organized  that  Groups  with  Very  Primitive 
Standards  May  Be  Progressively  Maintained  and  New  Ones  Formed — 
Music  and  Decorative  Art  Were  Bound  Up  with  Primitive  Ceremony 
but  Gradually  Acquired  a  Value  of  Their  Own — The  Place  of  the 
Aesthetic  Experience  in  the  Ritualistic  Acts — Hylan's  and  Leuba's 
Investigations  Yield  Evidence  Confirming  the  Practical  Theory  of 
Modern  Ceremonies — Rituals  of  Fraternal  Orders  Also  Survive  Be- 
cause They  Mediate  Practical  Results — Since  the  Scientific  Attitude, 
the  Recognition  of  the  Value  of  Individual  Experience,  and  the  Ration- 
al Socialization  of  the  World  of  Social  Objects  Tend  to  Break  Down  the 
Ritual,  Why  Does  the  Ceremony  Continue  to  Survive  in  This  Age? 
Answer  to  Be  Sought  in  Psychology  of  Evaluation — Power  of  Habit 
as  Shown  in  the  Ritual  of  Non-liturgical  Churches — Core  of  Self  Emo- 
tional, and  Stuff  Out  of  Which  Social  Objects  Are  Constructed  Also 


CONTENTS  Vll 

PACE 

Emotional — In  Evaluation  the  Court  of  Final  Appeal  Is  the  Emotional 
State  of  Consciousness  Aroused  by  the  Situation — The  Place  of  Emo- 
tion in  the  Lord's  Supper  Described — Application  to  the  Survival  of  the 
Ritual — Since  the  Rituals  Represent  Group  Values  and  Arc  the  Overt 
Expression  of  Attitudes  Common  to  the  Group,  Anything  That 
Threatens  to  Destroy  Them  at  Once  Arouses  Opposition — The  War 
Dance  of  the  Iroquois  a  Case  in  Point — Feather  Dance  Also  Illustrates 
the  Point — As  Long  as  the  Ceremony  Promotes  the  Group  Conscious- 
ness, Conserves  Group  Values,  and  Satisfies  Individual  Needs,  It  Will 
Survive. 

Bibliography 94-96 


PART  I 

THE  CEREMONY 

"L'ordre  du  monde  depend  de  I'ordre  des   rites  qu'on  observe." 

— Renan,  Le  Pretre  de  Nemi. 


>  »     •   •    >    > 


>    J  >   '  >  >  1  '  •, 


CHAPTER  I 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  CEREMONY 

Religious  and  moral  problems  have  never  been  more  assiduously 
and  faithfully  studied  than  they  are  today.  On  the  one  hand  are 
the  conservative  theologians  who  are  bending  every  effort  to 
keep  intact  the  dogmas  and  traditions  of  Christianity.  The  wel- 
fare of  humanity,  they  think,  depends  upon  doing  this.  On  the 
other  hand  are  the  scientists,  motivated  not  by  a  spirit  of  oppo- 
sition but  by  an  earnest  desire  to  get  hold  of  the  truth.  Truth, 
they  hold,  cannot  permanently  injure  humanity.  Any  light  tliat 
anthropology,  psychology,  archaeology,  or  any  other  line  of 
research  can  throw  on  questions  of  religion  and  morality  should 
be  welcomed.     Scientific  research  should  be  encouraged. 

A  central  problem  of  religion  and  morality,  and  one  to  which 
comparatively  little  attention  has  been  given,  is  ritualism.  The 
object  of  the  present  undertaking  is  a  critical  study  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  psychology  of  religion  and  social  psychology  of 
this  type  of  reaction,  for  the  purpose  of  describing  the  laws 
of  its  origin,  development,  and  survival.  The  thesis  which 
we  shall  defend  is  that  the  type  of  reaction  designated  as  ritual- 
ism is  always  social,  that  it  is  performed  to  mediate  practical 
control,  and  that  it  has  a  natural  history  in  accordance  with 
well-known  psychological  laws.  It  is,  of  course,  impossible  to 
examine  every  ceremony  past  and  present,  nor  is  it  necessary, 
for  we  are  interested  less  in  morphological  classification  than  in 
psychological  function.  Modern  scholars  now  generally  recognize 
that  all  available  ^historical  and  contemporary  data  point  to  the 
fact  that,  notwithstanding  the  differences  in  the  stages  of  culture 
among  men,  the  structure  of  mind  and  the  laws  of  mental  develop- 
ment are  essentially  the  same  wherever  man  is  found.  The 
similarity  in  rituals  and  objects  of  worship  among  primitive 
peoples  separated  far  in  time  and  space  has  long  been  one  of 
the  conspicuous  phenomena  of  the  history  of  religion  and  is  in 
striking  confirmation  of  the  above. 

In  view  of  this  now  generally  recognized  law,  we  can  find  no 
better  starting-point  for  our  study  than  the  description  of  a  few 
typical  ceremonies.     The  monumental  works  of  Spencer  and  Gil- 

3 


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c    c     c    r  /c    c 


'   c       c 


4  THE   PSYCHOLOGY  OF   RITUALISM 

len/  and  A.  W.  Howitt-  contain  an  abundance  of  excellent  descrip- 
tive material  relative  to  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  Blacks 
of  Australia,  any  of  which  might  serve  our  purpose.  As,  how- 
ever, the  Intichiuma  ceremonies  are  of  special  importance  to  the 
natives  of  the  central  part  of  the  continent  and  are  extremely 
suggestive,  we  first  turn  our  attention  to  them. 

The  purpose  of  these  ceremonies^  is  the  increase  of  the  totem 
objects.  As  the  totem  objects  are  plants  and  animals,  to  which 
are  added  wind,  sun,  water,  and  clouds,  it  is  plain  that  a  sub- 
stantial increase  of  the  food  supply  is  the  real  end  sought.  The 
ceremonies  of  no  two  totem  groups  are  alike,  for  reasons  that 
appear  later,  but  through  all  there  runs  the  common  purpose  as 
indicated.  Here  we  have  the  key  to  the  situation.  The  climate 
of  Central  Australia  is  exceedingly  hot  and  dry.  There  are  long- 
continued  times  of  drought,  when  the  food  supply  is  at  a  mini- 
mum.*,  Moreover,  the  dry  season  is  of  uncertain  length,  and 
the  rainy  one  often  of  irregular  occurrence.  At  such  times  the 
scarcity  of  food  becomes  a  serious  problem  for  the  savages.  It 
is,  then,  not  at  all  surprising  to  learn  that  many  of  the  totem 
groups  perform  the  Intichiuma  ceremony  just  about  when  they 
look  for  a  good  season.^.  That  is  the  time  when  rations  are  lowest 
and  when  they  have  reason  to  believe  that  magic  will  be  most 
effective.  The  ceremony  is  presided  over  by  the  Alatunja  or 
headman  of  the  group,*'  who  is  obliged  to  eat  a  little  of  the 
totem  so  that  he  may  be  able  to  perform  the  ceremony  with 
success.  The  members  of  the  totem  group  "eat  only  sparingly 
of  their  totemic  animal,"^  or  plant,  a  strict  man  eating  none  at 
all.  The  rest  they  hand  "to  the  other  men  who  do  not  belong  to 
the  totem,  giving  them  permission  to  eat  it  freely." 

Spencer  and  Gillen  describe  the  Intichiuma  of  the  Unjiamba 
or  Hakea  Flower  Totem  as  follows : 

^Spencer  and  Gillen,  (i)  The  Native  Tribes  of  Central  Australia  (London, 
1899)  ;   (2)  The  Northern  Tribes  of  Central  Australia  (London,  1904). 

-A.  W.  Howitt,  The  Native  Tribes  of  South-east  Australia  (London,  1904). 

'  Vide    Spencer    and    Gillen,    The    Native    Tribes    of    Central    Australia^    pp. 
167-21 1  ;  and  The  Northern  Tribes  of  Central  Australia,  pp.  283-319. 
^'{^The  Native  Tribes  of  South-cast  Australia,  pp.  38  and  155. 
,,    (yThe  Native  Tribes  of  Central  Australia,  p.   170. 

*  Ibid.,  pp.  9  f . 

''The  Northern  Tribes  of  Central  Australia,  pp.   184  f. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  CEREMONY  5 

At  a  place  called  Ilyaba  the  ceremony  is  performed  by  men  of  the  Bul- 
thara  and  Panunga  classes,  and  the  exact  spot  at  which  it  takes  place  is  a 
shallow,  oval-shaped  pit,  by  the  side  of  which  grows  an  ancient  Hakea  tree. 
in  the  center  of  the  depression  is  a  small  projecting  and  much  worn  block 
of  stone,  which  is  supposed  to  represent  a  mass  of  Unjiamba  or  Hakea 
flowers,  the  tree  being  the  Naiija  tree  of  an  Alcheringa  woman  whose  rein- 
carnation is  now  alive. 

Before  the  ceremony  commences  the  pit  is  carefully  swept  clean  by  an 
old  Unjiamba  man,  who  then  strokes  the  stone  all  over  with  his  hands. 
When  this  has  been  done  the  men  sit  around  the  stone  and  a  considerable 
time  is  spent  in  singing  chants,  the  burden  of  which  is  a  reiterated  invita- 
tion to  the  Unjiamba  tree  to  flower  much,  and  to  the  blossoms  to  be  full 
of  honey.  Then  the  old  leader  asks  one  of  the  young  men  to  open  a  vein 
in  his  arm,  which  he  does,  and  allows  the  blood  to  sprinkle  freely  over  the 
stone,  while  the  other  men  continue  the  singing.  The  blood  flows  until  the 
stone  is  completely  covered,  the  flowing  blood  being  supposed  to  represent 
the  preparation  of  Ahnioara,  that  is,  the  drink  which  is  made  by  steeping 
the  flowers  in  water,  this  being  a  very  favorite  beverage  of  the  natives.  As  '  .  >'j~ 
soon  as  the  stone  is  covered  with  blood  the  ceremony  is  complete.* 

The  determining  impvilse  m4h is-  ceremony  is  food.  The/ispe- 
cific  reference  is  the  favorite  Hakea  flower  beverage.  The  things 
that  are  conspicuous  are  the  movements  and  the  accompanying 
chant.  The  movements  are  not  mere  random  movements.  They 
are  designed  to  represent  actual  situations  in  the  life  of  the  natives, 
"the  flowing  of  the  blood  being  supposed  to  represent  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  beverage" ;  or  they  are  the  expression  of  attitudes, 
as  when  Hakea-Flower-Totem  old  man  strokes  the  stone  with  his' 
hands.  This  "stone  is  regarded  as  a  churinga  and  the  spot  is  ...  . 
forbidden  to  the  w^omen.  children,  and  uninitiated  men."  As  the 
Central  Australians  have  nothing  more  sacred  than  their  churinga, 
it  is  not  surj^rising  that  emotion  should  appear  when  they  are 
handled."  The  accompanying  chants  indicate  that  the  participants 
view  the  Unjiamba  tree  as  a  social  rather  than  a  physical  object. 
They  speak  directly  to  the  tree  itself,  making  definite  petition  for 
what   they   want.      The   ceremony   has   reference   to   the   everyday 

*  The  Native  Tribes  of  Central  Australia,  pp.   184  f. 

'  "Churinga  is  the  name  given  by  the  Arunta  natives  to  certain  sacred 
objects  which,  on  penalty  of  death  or  very  severe  punishment,  such  as  blinding 
by  means  of  a  fire  stick,  are  never  allowed  to  be  seen  by  women  or  uninitiated 
men."  The  churinga  are  one  and  all  connected  with  the  totems  and  may  not  be 
seen  except  upon  very  rare  occasions  (Tlie  Native  Tribes  of  Central  Australia, 
chap.  v). 


6  THE    PSYCHOLOGY   OF   RITUALISM 

life  of  the  natives.  The  situation  is  not  merely  a  product  of  the 
imagination,  but  an  attempt  at  a  type  of  control  that  from  the 
primitive  point  of  view  is  perfectly  rational. 

In  addition  to  the  movements  and  accompanying  myth,  chants, 
or  prayer,  the  element  of  decoration  is  very  conspicuous  in  many 
primitive  ceremonies.  The  Zuni  ceremony  called  Hlahewe  Cere- 
mony for  Rain,^"  in  which  the  personators  of  the  corn  maidens 
wear  a  headdress  with  a  tablet  ornamented  with  cloud,  sun,  cres- 
cent, and  star  symbols,  displays  this  trait,  as  does  the  Intichiuma 
ceremony  of  the  Emu  Totem  of  the  Arunta  tribe.  In  the  instance 
of  the  latter,  the  Alatunja  and  his  two  sons  saturate  a  patch  of 
ground,  covering  about  three  square  yards  with  blood  from  a  vein 
in  their  arms.  The  blood  dries  and  leaves  a  hard  surface.  On 
this  a  totemic  design  is  painted. 

It  is  supposed  to  represent  certain  parts  of  the  emu ;  two  large  patches 
of  yellow  indicate  lumps  of  fat,  of  which  the  natives  are  very  fond,  but  the 
greater  part  represented,  bj'  means  of  circles  and  circular  patches,  the  eggs 
in  various  stages  of  development,  some  before  and  some  after  laying.  Small 
circular  yellow  patches  represented  the  small  eggs  in  the  ovary:  a  black 
patch  surrounded  by  a  black  circle  was  a  fully-formed  egg  ready  to  be  laid ; 
while  two  large  concentric  circles  meant  an  egg  which  has  been  laid  and 
incubated,  so  that  a  chicken  has  been  formed.  In  addition  to  these  marks, 
various  sinuous  lines  drawn  in  black,  red  and  yellow,  indicate  parts  of  the 
intestines,  the  excrements  being  represented  by  black  dots.  Everywhere 
over  the  surface,  in  and  amongst  the  various  drawings,  white  spots  indi- 
cated the  feathers  of  the  bird,  the  whole  device  being  enclosed  by  a  thin 
line  of  pale  pink  down.^^ 

f  The  decorations,  like  the  movements  in  the  ceremony,  com- 
monly deal  with  things  and  situations  in  the  lives  of  the  natives 
themselves.  In  their  simplest  form  the  decorations  are  an  Attempt 
to  reproduce  concrete  situations,  as  when  the  decoration  of  the 
Emu  Totem  represents  the  emu.^-  Often,  however,  as  in  the  illus- 
tration above,  the  design  is  largely  of  a  conventional  pattern.  The 
meaning  in  such  cases  is  well  known  to  the  natives  participating. 
The  movements  and  the  decorations  usually  belong  together. 
Besides  reproducing  actual  situations  from  life  (as  when,  in  the 
case  of  the  Plumtree  Totem,  one  man  knocks  off  imaginary  plums 

'"Mathilda   Coxe    Stevenson,   "The    Zuni    Indians,"    Twenty-third   Annual  Re- 
port of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  pp.   180—204. 

"■The  Native  Tribes  of  Central  Australia,  pp.  179  f. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  343. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  CEREMONY  7 

and  another  eats  them),  the  movements  are  often  designed  to  give 
a  dramatic  representation  of  the  movements  of  totemic  animals.  In 
the  Hzard  ceremony  a  man  decorated  to  represent  a  lizard  comes  up 
to  the  ceremony  ground  slowly  in,  a  zig-zag  course,  stooping  down 
and  assuming  a  variety  of  attitudes. ^•'  In  the  ceremony  of  the 
Fish  Totem  of  Uratinga.  the  performer  is  decorated  to  represent  a 
fish.  Squatting  on  the  ground,  he  moves  his  body  and  extends  his 
arms,  opening  and  closing  them  as  he  leans  forward  "so  as  to  imi- 
tate a  fish  swelling  itself  out  and  opening  and  closing  its  gills. "^* 
Here  we  have  an  indication  (many  other  examples  could  be  cited) 
that  a  certain  type  of  decoration  implies  a  corresponding  type  of 
motion,  and  vice  versa. 

Let  it  not  be  inferred,  however,  that  the  types  of  movements  and 
decorations  above  enumerated  are  always  the  only  ones  present.  It 
would  indeed  be  absurd  to  expect  only  these.  I  have  already  referred 
to  movements  which  produce  various  types  of  emotion.  Handling 
and  stroking  the  churinga  is  manifestly  one  of  these.  Then  there  is 
often  much  dancing,  often  also  a  swaying  motion,  both  of  which,  if 
carried  to  excess,  are  favorable  to  sensory  and  motor  automatisms — 
experiences  that  doubtless  have  had  a  determining  influence  in  the 
construction  of  primitive  man's  world. 


^"  Ibid.,  p.   304. 
"Ibid.,  p.   317. 


CHAPTER  II 

GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS   OF  RITUALISM 

A  rite  or  ceremony  is  the  observance  of  some  formal  act  or  series 
of  acts  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  custom  or  authority,  and  from 
the  point  of  view  of  functional  psychology  must  be  considered  as  a 
type  of  overt  reaction  performed  for  the  purpose  of  control.  In 
the  case  of  the  Intichiuma  ceremony  described  in  the  last  chapter, 
the  purpose  is  control  of  the  food  situation.  The  totemic  cere- 
monies described  constitute  a  part  of  the  initiation  ceremonies^  in  the 
Arunta  tribe,  and  are  intimately  connected  with  matters  of  sex  and 
social  organization.  As  designed  for  control,  the  ceremony  has 
subjective  and  objective  aspects.  Both  are  invariably  present, 
though  often  in  varying  degrees. 

This  brings  us  to  a  consideration  of  first  importance.  The  cere- 
mony is  always  a  social  reaction.  There  is  always  implicit  or  explicit 
reference  to  other  selves,  be  they  real  or  imagined.  To  divide  rites 
into  communal  and  personal-  is  to  distinguish  on  a  superficial  basis. 
Even  such  a  supposedly  individual  rite  as  that  of  naming  the  child 
always  implies  a  relation  to  others.  The  name  is  given  by  others.  It 
is  given  to  mark  the  child  as  a  member  of  a  certain  group,  to  distin- 
guish it  from  other  members  of  the  group,  to  designate  its  relation  to 
society  at  large,  and  last  but  not  least,  to  insure  more  adequate  con- 
trol of  the  individual  by  the  group.  Thus  viewed,  this  rite,  which 
Brinton  catalogues  under  "personal"  rites,  naturally  comes  to  take 
its  place  as  a  communal  rite.     It  certainly  would  be  quite  as  much 

'■A.  W.  Howitt  has  a  significant  paragraph  on  the  initiation  ceremonies. 
Though  his  words  have  immediate  reference  to  the  natives  of  Southeast  Aus- 
tralia, they  apply  equally  well  to  Central  Australia.  "The  intention  of  all  that 
is  done  at  this  ceremony  is  to  make  a  momentous  change  in  the  boy's  life ;  the 
past  is  to  be  cut  off  from  him  by  a  gulf  which  he  can  never  repass.  His  con- 
nection with  his  mother  as  her  child   is  broken   off,  and  he  becomes   henceforth 

attached  to  the  men He  is  now  to  be  a  man,  instructed  in  and  sensible 

of  the  duties  which  devolve  upon  him  as  a  member  of  the  ....  community. 
....  The  ceremonies  are  intended  to  impress  and  terrify  the  boy  in  such  a 
manner  that  the  lesson  may  be  indelible,  and  may  govern  the  whole  of  his 
future   life." — The  Native   Tribes  of  South-east  Australia,  p.   532. 

■Daniel  G.  Brinton,  Religious  of  Primitive  Peoples  (New  York,  1897),  PP- 
177  f. 

8 


y 

GENERAL    CHARACTERISTICS    OF   RITUALISM  g 

SO  as  sacrifice,  which  he  calls  a  communal  rite ;  for  here  the  indi- 
vidual may  have  done  nothing  more  than  make  himself  unclean,^ 
and  be  sacrificing  to  remove  the  uncleanness. 

The  position  which  I  shall  defend  in  the  present  undertaking 
is  that  every  ceremony,  every  rite,  is  social.  It  is  social  because  of 
several  considerations.  The  first  has  already  been  indicated ;  viz., 
that  as  an  overt  type  of  reaction  it  invariably  has  reference — implied 
or  explicit — to  other  selves.  There  is  no  rite  in  the  history  of  j 
religion  in  which  an  individual  participates  alone  without  any  / 
reference  to  other  selves,  lower,  co-ordinate,  or  higher.  In  the' 
second  place,  the  various!  ceremonies  are  overt  reactions  out  of  a, 
matrix  which  is  nothing  more  or  less  than  the  social  consciousness. 
It  is.  for  instance,  as  absurd  to  suppose  that  the  god  who  is  pro- 
pitiated by  the  savage  or  barbarian  is  other  than  he  is  conceived 
by  the  savage  himself,  as  it  is  to  suppose  that  the  prayer  of  the 
child  is  addressed  J:o  a  being  other  than  the  one  with  whom  it  places  I 
itself  into  relation.  "O  God,  isn't  it  nice  to  ride  in  the  cable  car!' 
Please  send  me  a  bicycle.  Amen,"  prayed  the  little  child.*  We 
may  without  hesitation  say  that  many  of  primitive  man's  ceremonies 
contain  elements  as  spontaneous  as  this  prayer  of  the  little  child. 
In  the  third  place,  the  ceremony,  whatever  its  origin  may  have  ; 
been  in  the  past,  is  for  the  worshiper  or  immediate  participant  an ! 
institution  originated  and  prescribed  by  some  other  self — usually 
a  god  or  ancestor:  if  by  a  god,  there  is  an  accompanying  myth  of 
the  occasion  of  the  revelation,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Hebrews ;  if  by 
an  ancestor,  it  is  believed  to  have  been  handed  down  through  tra- 
dition, as  among  the  Central  Australians.  In  either  case  its  origin 
is  social. 

In  addition  to  the  social  aspect,  we  need,  in  the  second  place, 
to  illuminate  more  fully  the  practical  character  of  the  ritual  to  wliich 
some  reference  has  already  been  made.  From  a  higher  stage 
of  culture  we  are  apt  to  look  upon  these  ceremonies  as  so  much 
nonsense  and  waste  of  good  energy.  But  we  should  not  forget  that 
some  things  in  vogue  in  our  own  stage  of  culture  scarcely  a  cen- 
tury ago  appear  thus  to  us  today.  When  we  place  the  first  type 
of  locomotive  manufactured  beside  one  of  the  colossal  freight  or 
passenger  engines  of  the  present  day,  the  former  looks  like  a  toy 

'Num.,   chap.    19. 

^  George  A.  Coe,  Education  in  Religion  and  Morals  ("New  York,  1904),  p. 
168   (footnote). 


\ 


lO  THE   PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RITUALISM 

in  the  presence  of  the  latter.  Likewise,  when  we  compare  the 
ceremonies  of  primitive  man  with  our  modern  scientific  methods 
of  control,  the  former  appear  like  so  much  play.  But  even  as  the 
first  locomotive,  impractical  as  it  may  be  today,  grew  out  of  practical 
demands,  so  the  ritual  has  been  an  instrument  of  practical  con- 
trol. Wherever  a  comparatively  primitive  type  of  ritual  survives 
in  higher  stages  of  culture,  the  social  consciousness  back  of  it 
still  finds  it  a  practical  method  of  control. 

We  may  here  note  the  fact  that  in  primitive  society  the  ritual 
refers  to  every  act  of  life.  In  1887  and  1888  about  six  hundred 
sacred  formulas  were  obtained  on  the  Cherokee  reservation  in 
North  Carolina.  They  cover  "every  subject  pertaining  to  the  daily 
life  and  thought  of  the  Indian,  including  medicine,  love,  hunting, 
fishing,  war,  self-protection,  destruction  of  enemies,  witchcraft,  the 
crops,  the  council,  the  ball  play,  etc.,  and  in  fact  embodying  almost 
the  whole  of  the  ancient  religion  of  the  Cherokees."-'^  This  is 
excellent  evidence  in  favor  of  the  practical  character  of  the  ritual. 
The  Todas  afiford  an  example  of  how  an  elaborate  ritual  can  grow 
up  about  the  chief  concern  of  everyday  life.  These  primitive  people 
gain  almost  their  entire  livelihood  from  the  products  of  the  dairy. 
The  large  part  of  their  ritual  is  concerned  with  the  dairy,  dairymen, 
and  buffaloes.*'  Again,  if  our  theory  of  the  practical  character  of 
the  ritual  is  correct,  it  would  be  reasonable  to  expect  that  in  a  hot, 
arid  climate  where  the  rainy  season  is  followed  by  long  dry  spells, 
there  would  be  ceremonies  for  the  purpose  of  securing  rain  and 
increasing  the  food  supply.  These  are  precisely  the  conditions 
actually  existing  in  Central  Australia  and  in  New  Mexico  and 
Arizona ;  and.  what  is  more,  as  we  have  noted,  both  the  natives  of 
Central  Australia  and  the  Amerinds  of  New  Mexico  have  elaborate 
rituals  to  cover  these  conditions.  The  matter  of  social  organiza- 
tion or  government  is  als®  of  intense  practical  interest  from  the 
point  of  view  of  sex,  and  becomes  one  of  the  first  considerations  in 
a  large  number  of  totemic  ceremonies.  Thus,  we  may  go  the  round 
of  what  would  rightly  come  to  be  matters  of  practical  importance 
for  primitive  man — birthj  death,  sickness,  food,  social  organiza- 
tion, sex,  and  so  forth — ^and  find  that  all  are  represented  by  elabo- 
rate rituals. 

'^ James  Mooney,   "The   Sacred   Formulas  of  the  Cherokees."  Seventh  Annual 
Report  of  the  Bureau   of  Ethnology    (Washington,    1891),   p.   307. 

•  W.  H.  R.  Rivers,  The  Todas  (London,  1906),  pp.  38  f. 


GENERAL   CHARACTERISTICS   OF    RITUALISM  II 

In„jji£. Jiiird  place,  rites  and  ceremonies,  from  imitative  magic 
to  baptism  as  it  is  practiced  in  the  Christian  church  in  our  day,  are 
symptomatic.  They  are  the  overt  expression  of  subjective  states. 
Attitudes,  imaginations,  ideas,  emotions,  all  are  manifested  in  multi- 
tudinous form,  and  in  the  most  diverse  ways  in  ceremonial  prac- 
tices. As  by  the  pulse,  temperature,  and  other  symptoms  the  skilful 
physician  is  able  to  diagnose  the  physical  condition  of  his  patient, 
thus  the  trained  psychologist  is  prepared  from  the  ceremonial 
practices  of  the  group  to  estimate  its  stage  of  culture  and  describe 
its  social  consciousness.  The  point  that  needs  special  emphasis , 
is  that  the  ceremony  is  in  no  wise  imposed  from  without  by  some 
higher  power.  The  thus-saith-the-Lord  of  the  mystical  experience 
of  the  great  leader,  prophet,  or  apostle,  at  tlie  base  of  the  ceremony, 
is  at  most  no  more  than  an  excellent  indication  of  the  interlocutory 
nature  of  consciousness'  or  of  the  sudden  incursion  of  material 
from  the  fringe  into  the  focus  of  attention."*  The  complex  system 
of  ceremonial  observances  laid  down  in  the  Pentateuch,  believed 
by  many  to  have  been  received  by  Moses  direct  from  Jahwe,  is  now 
known  to  be  in  substantial  harmony  with  practices  of  surrounding 
peoples.  Archaeological  research,  especially  the  discovery  of  the 
Code  of  Hammurabi,  as  well  as  careful  study  of  contemporary 
savage  practices,  has  done  much  to  bring  about  a  realization  of 
the  fact  that  even  these  rites  reflect  the  social  consciousness  of  the 
group  concerned. 

A  specific  question  will  perhaps  serve  to  bring  into  better  per- 
spective the  symptomatic  character  of  the  ceremonial  practices. 
What  is  the  belief  of  the  Chinese  regarding  the  dead?  There  are  a 
number  of  ways  in  which  one  presumably  might  be  able  to  procure 
an  answer  to  that  (juestion.  But  there  is  none  better  than  to  study 
the  ceremonial  practices  of  the  Chinese  performed  for  their  dead. 
The  writer  has  had  opportunity  to  do  this  during  his  residence 
among  the  Chinese,  and  does  not  hesitate  to  say  that  the  Chinese 
of  Central  China  believe  that  each  man  has  at  least  three  souls 
which  survive  death.  One  is  thought  to  frequent  the  grave.  This 
is  easily  gathered  from  the  fact  that  chickens,  pigs.  etc..  are  sacri- 
ficed at  the  grave  on  the  appointed  day  in  the  spring,   and    from 

'  Cf.  Anna  Louise  Strong,  A  Consideration  of  Prayer  front  the  Standpoint  of 
Social  Psychology   (Chicago,   1908),  p.    17.    ^ 

"William  James,  The  Varieties  of  Religious  Experience  (New  \'ork,  1909), 
pp.   193  and  234. 


12  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   RITUALISM 

the  little  opening  left  in  many  graves  with  the  almost  imperceptible 
soul-path  leading  from  it.  The  second  soul  is  supposed  to  remain 
in  the  home — more  specifically  in  the  ancestral  tablet.  This  I  have 
concluded  from  the  fact  of  worship  in  front  of  the  tablet,  and  this 
has  been  further  substantiated  by  a  most  weird  phenomenon.  Just 
at  dusk  a  woman  will  step  out  of  the  front  door  of  the  house,  and 
with  a  mournful,  wailing  call  invite  the  wandering  soul  back  into 
the  home.  The  third  soul  is  believed  to  have  gone  into  the  world 
of  spirits.  In  evidence  of  this  it  is  customary  for  the  Chinese  to 
burn  up  hundreds  of  thousands  of  supposed  hundred-cash  bills. 
The  smoke  is  thought  to  carry  the  money  into  the  other  world.  I 
have  also  witnessed  a  like  performance  in  the  case  of  a  house  con- 
structed of  various  colors  of  paper,  and  fitted  out  with  the  con- 
veniences of  the  Chinese  home  made  of  similar  material. 

Ritual  expresses  in  the  form  of  overt  reactions  the  relation 
between  the  participant  and  certain  other  selves  involved  in  the 
ceremony.  In  the  event  that  the  social  consciousness  is  characterized 
by  the  naivete  of  animism,  the  ceremony  will  be  symptomatic  of 
that  condition.  If  the  social  consciousness  is  marked  by  a  fearful 
attitude  toward  a  god  whose  dignity  is  outraged  on  the  slightest 
occasion,  the  ritual  will  include  a  well-developed  piacular  cere- 
mony. On  the  other  hand,  where  the  sacrifice  partakes  of  the 
nature  of  feasting  and  merry-making,  as  among  the  early  Semites, 
Greeks,  and  Romans,**  it  is  a  certain  indication  that  the  attitude 
of  the  group  toward  its  god,  ancestor,  or  totem  is  that  of  confi- 
dence and  fellowship.  Naivete  in  the  ceremony  and  naivete  of 
subjective  states  go  together.  Storm  and  stress  without  indicate 
storm  and  stress  within.  The  inner  and  outer  are  mutually 
determining.  This  is  a  point  of  first  importance  in  studying  the 
ceremony. 

I  A  fourth,  feature  of  ritualism  deserving  special  attention  is  its 
symbolic  character.     As  a  symbol  the  ceremony  "stands  for  some- 

,  thing,  which,  in   itself,   it  is  not."^'*     Though   there  is  a  growing 
tendency  to  seek  for  aesthetic  efifect  in  connection  with  practical 

!  aspects,  yet  there  is  this  general  correspondence  between  ceremonies 
of  cultured  society  and  those  of  primitive  man,  that  neither  are  as 

'  a  rule  performed  for  the  mere  sake  of  the  ceremonies  themselves. 


•  W.    Robertson    Smith,    Tlie    Religion    of    the    Semites    (London,    1901),    pp. 


255   ff. 


IT    - 

:  10 


Cirarks  Hubbaxd  Judd,  Psychology,  p.  256. 


GENERAL    CHARACTERISTICS   OF   RITUALISM  13 

A  meaning  is  usuall\-  implied — a  meaning  that  is  to  be  conveyed  to  ^ 
somebody  for  some  definite  purpose.  Here  again  the  social  character 
of  the  reaction  comes  to  the  surface.  The  meaning  is  not  always 
apparent  to  the  superficial  observer  or  to  the  uninitiated,  but  it  is 
there  nevertheless.  "Men  have  always  argued,"  writes  Andrew 
Lang,^^  "like  one  of  the  persons  in  AI.  Renan's  play  Le  Pretre  de 
Nemi,  that  Tordre  du  monde  depend  de  I'ordre  des  rites  qu'on  ob- 
serve.' "  This  is  a  hyperbolical  statement,  and  yet  so  far  as  primitive 
man  is  concerned  it  is  very  near  the  truth.  "In  our  day  the  domain 
of  ritual  is  restricted,  but  in  primitive  culture  it  pervades  the  whole 
life.  Not  a  single  action  of  any  importance  can  be  performed  that 
is  not  accompanied  by  prescribed  rites  of  more  or  less  elaborate 
form."^-  Among  the  Navajos,  for  instance,  the  shaman,  when 
the  house-dedication  song  is  sung,  "listens  closely  to  hear  whether 
the  correct  v^'ords  are  sung.  This  is  a  matter  of  great  importance, 
as  the  omission  of  a  part  of  the  song  or  the  incorrect  rendering 
of  any  word  would  entail  evil  consequences  to  the  house  and  its 
inmates. "^^  A  similar  state  of  afifairs  as  to  the  care  with  which 
the  prescribed  ritual  had  to  be  carried  out  has  prevailed  in  India 
since  the  simpler  and  more  spontaneous  worship  represented  by  the 
Rig  Veda  was  supplemented  by  the  elaborate  ritual  of  the  Brah- 
manas.  It  is  true  that  there  is  a  great  diversity  in  the  nature  of 
the  various  rituals  and  the  amount  of  symbolism  involved,  but  a 
degree  of  symbolism  is  usually  not  far  from  the  surface. 

The  ceremony  may  be  performed  because  the  participant  wants 
something  that  cannot  be  obtained  through  the  means  ordinarily 
at  his  disposal  (the  type  of  behavior  designated  by  James  H.  Leuba: 
as  "mechanical"),^*  or  because  he  wishes  to  perform  the  act  with- 
out being  directly  il^plicated  in  the  overt  result.  The  ceremony 
in  this  way  becomes  a  method  of  transmitting  the  wishes  and 
desires  of  the  individual  or  group  concerned  to  the  power  which  1 
is  to  bring  about  the  results.  It  is  not  necessary  that  this  power 
be  sharply  defined.     Sometimes  it  is  and  sometimes  it  is  not,  as 

"Andrew  Lang,  Myth,  Ritual  and  Religion   (London,   1887),  I.  260. 

"  Franz    Boas,    "Some    Traits   of    Primitive    Culture,"    Journal   of   American 
Folk-Lore,  XVII,  250. 

"Cosmos  Mindeleff,  "Navaho  Houses"   (Ceremonies  of  Dedication),  Seven- 
teenth Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  Part  2,  p.  506. 

'^^atnes    H.    Leuba,    The   Psychological   Origin    and    the   Nature    of   Religion 
(Chicago,   1909). 


14  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   RITUALISM  /^ 

,'    in  case  of  the  Hakea  tree  in  the  ceremony  described  in  the  last 
/    chapter.      The   point   I    wish   to   emphasize   is   that   the   ceremony 

often  is  designed  to  influence  a  higher  power  which  is  to  help  if 

approached  in  the  right  way. 

A  description  of  a  ceremony  taken  from  the  charm  book  of  a 

Langat  Malay  will  serve  to  illustrate  this  point : 

Yon  make  an  image  to  resemble  a  corpse  out  of  wax  from  an  empty 
bees'  comb  and  of  the  length  of  a  footstep.  If  you  want  to  cause  sickness, 
you  pierce  the  eye  and  bHndness  results ;  or  you  pierce  the  waist  and  the 
stomach  gets  sick,  or  you  pierce  the  head  and  the  head  gets  sick,  or  you 
pierce  the  breast  and  the  breast  gets  sick.  If  you  want  to  cause  death,  you 
transfix  it  from  the  head  right  through  to  the  buttocks,  the  "transfixers"  being 
a  gomuti-palm ;  then  you  enshroud  the  image  as  you  would  a  corpse,  and  you 
pray  over  it  as  if  you  were  praying  over  the  dead;  then  you  bury  it  in  the 
middle  of  the  path  [which  goes  to]  the  place  of  the  person  whom  you  wish 
to  charm,  so  that  he  may  step  across  it.^^ 

V  It  is  a  striking  fact  that  the  ceremonies  of  primitive  man  are 

almost  invariably  dramatic  representations.     Evidently  language  is 

I  often  thought  to  be  an  inadequate  conveyance  of  meaning.  Fearing 
that  the  gods  or  powers  concerned  might  fail  to  understand,  primi- 
tive man  acts  what  he  wishes  to  convey,  or  represents  it  by  drawings 

*     on  the  ground,  or  sacrifices  it  on  the  altar.^*'     When  we  consider 

^^  Walter  William  Skeat,  Malay  Magic  (London,  1900),  pp.  570  f.  When 
the  image  is  buried  the  following  charm  is  repeated  : 

"Peace  be  to  you  !     Ho  Prophet  'Tap,  in  whose  charge  the  earth  is, 
Lo,  I  am  burying  the  corpse  of  Somebody, 
I   am  bidden   [to  do   so]   by  the   Prophet   Muhammed 
Because  he   [the  corpse]   was  a  rebel  to  God. 
Do  you  assist   in  killing  him  or  making  him   sick  : 
If  you  do  not  make  him  sick,  if  you  do  not  kill  him, 
You  shall  be  a  rebel  against   God  ; 
A  rebel  against  Muhammed. 
It  is  not  I  who  am  burying  him. 
It  is  Gabriel  who  is  burying  him. 

Do  you  too  grant  my  prayer  and  petition,  this  very  day  that  appeared. 
Grant  it  by  the  grace  of  my  petition  within  the  fold  of  the  Creed. 
La  ilaha,"  etc. 

"The  following  observation  is  made  on  this  point  by  Fewkes :  "In  the 
growth  of  religion  it  was  early  recognized  that  the  gods  had  their  own  language 
and  that  possibly  they  were  vmable  to  understand  that  of  men ;  hence,  as  has 
been  shown  by  Powell,  there  arose  and  developed  a  religious  gesture  language 
or   an   expression   of   prayer   by   dramatization.      The   worshipper   in    this   type    of 


GENERAL    CHARACTERISTICS   OF    RITUALISM  1 5 

that  the  language  of  primitive  man  is  often  of  necessity  supple- 
mented by  pantomimicry  in  his  intercourse  with  his  fellows  because 
of  its  inadequacy,  this  is  not  surprising.^^ 

But  the  symbolism  of  the  ceremonies  often  has  another  aspect. 
They  symbolize  certain  group  values.  The  initiation  ceremonies  of 
the  Australians.  Bushmen,  and  many  other  primitive  peoples  are  of 
this  nature.  Circumcision,  subincision,  knocking  out  of  teeth,  instruc-, 
tion  by  the  elders  of  the  tribe,  corroborees,  and  other  ceremonies/ 
symbolize  the  attainment  of  real  manhood.  In  the  instance  of  the 
Australians,  the  boys  live  in  the  women's  camp  before  their  initia- 
tion, but  afterward  are  at  home  in  the  men's  camp."  Spencer 
and  Gillen  also  found  initiation  ceremonies  of  women  in  vogue  in 
Central  Australia. ^'^  Rites  of  lustration  and  sacrifice  are  also  cases 
in  point.  All  have  a  peculiar  value  for  the  participant,  not  alone 
in  what  the  rites  themselves  are,  but  in  what  they  symbolize. 

We  have  referred  to  the  dramatic  representations  as  being 
designed  to  convey  the  wishes  and  desires  of  the  group  to  the 
higher  power.  This  is,  however,  not  the  only  symbolic  significance 
they  may  have.  They  often  refer  to  the  sacred  history  of  the 
tribe.  The  Intichiuma  (ceremony)  of  the  Witchetty-grub  of  the 
Arunta  tribes  of  Alice  Springs,  Central  Australia,  is  a  case  in 
point.  "The  men  assemble  in  camp,  and,  leaving  everything  behind 
them,  ....  they   walk    in    single   file   to  a   spot,    now   called   the 

Emily  Gap This    place    is    especially    associated    with    the 

Alcheringa  ancestors  of  the  group  and  on  its  walls  are  the  sacred 
drawings  characteristic  of  the  totem."-*'  After  certain  additional 
ceremonies  have  been  performed  and  other  sacred  spots  carefully 
examined,  "they  march  back  to  camp  following  precisely  the  track 
which,  according  to  tradition,  was  followed  by  their  Alcheringa 
ancestors."-^    The  Alatunja  or  leader  of  the  ceremony  is  supposed 

prayer,  which  may  be  called  dramatic  prayer,  showed  the  gods  through  action 
what  he  desired." — ^Jesse  Walter  Fewkes,  "Notes  on  Tusayan  Snake  and  Flute 
Ceremonies."  Nineteenth  Annual  Report   of  Bureau   of  American   Ethnology,  p. 

lOIO. 

"  Both  mimicry  and  pantomimicry  also  serve  as  an  outlet  of  attitudes.  I 
have  often  found  pleasure  in  watching  two  Chinese  make  a  bargain.  Mimicry 
and  pantomimicry  play  a  very  important  part. 

^*  Sf  encer  and  Gillen,  The  Northern  Tribes  of  Central  Australia,  p.  338. 

"  Spencer  and  Gillen,  The  Native   Tribes  of  Central  Australia,  pp.   92   f. 

-"Spencer  and  Gillen,  The  Northern  Tribes  of  Central  Australia,  pp.  289  f. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  290. 


l6  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RITUALISM 

to  do  what  the  celebrated  Inhvailiuka  or  great  leader  of  the  Witch- 
etty-grubs  in  the  Alcheringa  did.  If  we  turn  to  the  North  Ameri- 
can Indians,  dramatic  representations  of  sacred  history  are  equally 
in  evidence.  Masked  or  costumed  personages  ''enact  the  part  of 
divine  beings  whose  history  is  recounted  in  the  myth."  This  pres- 
entation of  sacred  history  is,  however,  "usually  of  a  conventional 
character  so  that  the  symbolism  is  apparent  only  to  the  initiated."-^ 
The  conventional  character  of  the  rite  is,  if  anything,  more  pro- 
nounced in  higher  stages  of  culture.  The  splendid  and  highly  con- 
ventional ritual  of  the  Catholic  church,  called  High  Mass,  is  a 
dramatic  representation  of  the  supper  in  the  house  of  Simon,  and 
the  Passion  itself.-^  The  Lord's  Supper,  under  the  doctrine  of 
transubstantiation  of  the  Catholic  church  as  well  as  according  to 
the  tenets  of  the  Protestant  churches,  is  highly  symbolical. 

If  the  conclusions  we  have  reached  with  reference  to  the  sym- 
bolism involved  in  rites  and  ceremonies  are  correct,  they  show  not 
only  a  vivid  imagination  but  often  also  the  power  of  abstraction  on 
{the  part  of  the  intelligent  participants.     That  is  to  say,  the  method 
jof  control  is  not  as  inane  as  it  appears  on  the  surface.     Primitive 
man  reasons  from  analogy,  and  while  this  method  falls  far  short 
of  securing  the  control  of  scientific  thought,  it  does  in  many  in- 
stances secure  a  type  of  control  that  is  adequate  to  meet  his  needs. 
The  wild  and  weird  ceremonies  of  earlier  man  are  not  wild  and 
weird  from  his  viewpoint.    The  difference  is  one  of  culture.    What 
to  us  seems  confusion  and  disorder,  to  him  appears  normal  and 
rational.    Given  the  type  of  social  consciousness  of  the  native  Aus- 
tralian, the  North  American  Indian,  the  Bushman,  or  the  Hottentot, 
the  reaction  could  not  be  otherwise.    To  show  this  shall  be  part  of 
my  task  in  Part  11. 

^  William  Wells   Newell,  "Ritual  Regarded  as  the   Dramatization  of  Myth," 
The  International  Congress  of  Anthropology   (Chicago,   1894),  p.  240. 
-^  Ibid.,  p.  239. 


PART  II 

DEVELOPMENT    OF    RITUALISM 

"Der  Mensch  erkennt  sich  nur  im  Menschen,  nur 
Das  Leben  lehret  jedem  was  er  sei." 

— Goethe,  Tasso,  Act  II,  scene  3. 

"Though  existing  religious  ideas  and  institutions  have  an  average  adapta- 
tion to  the  characters  of  the  people  who  live  under  them ;  yet,  as  these  characters 
are  ever  changing,  the  adaptation  is  ever  becoming  imperfect ;  and  the  ideas  and 
institutions  need  remodeling  with  a  frequency  proportional  to  the  rapidity  ot 
the  change." — Herbert  Spencer,  First  Principles,  sec.  34. 


-  \ 


CHAPTER  III 

de:^ermining  ixstln'cts  and  impulses  of  the  primitive 

ceremony 

In  the  preceding  cnapters  two  points  liave  been  especially  empha- 
sized. The  tirst  is  that  the  ceremony  is  intimately  related  to  primi- 
tive man's  practical  life — that  it  is  his  method  of  practical  control. 
The  movement  and  decorations  are  not  a  sheer  product  of  the 
imagination :  they  are  the  reproductions  of  situations  with  which 
the  savage  is  familiar.  ■  The  second  point  is  that  the  ceremony  is 
always  a  social  reaction.  Without  the  constant  reference  to  other 
selves,  real  or  imaginary,  it  has  neither  meaning  nor  purpose.  The\ 
ceremony  is  a  type  of  reaction  emerging  out  of  attitudes  that  are 
definitely  social  and  that  have  been  built  up  gradually  in  the  strug- 
gle for  life.  It  now  becomes  our  task  to  justify  this  position  more 
explicitly  with  reference  to  the  origin  and  development  of  ritualism. 

Here  two  difficulties  at  once  loom  up.  The  first  is,  that,  when 
incjuiry  is  made  of  primitive  peoples  who  are  in  the  habit  of  per- 
forming certain  ceremonies — such  as  the  Intichiuma  of  the  native 
Australians  or  the  Snake  ceremonies  of  the  Amerinds  of  New 
Mexico — they  are  unable  to  give  an  intelligent  account  of  the 
origin  of  the  rites.  When  W.  H.  R.  Rivers  tried  to  obtain  an 
explanation  from  the  Todas  of  any  one  of  their  ceremonies,  he  met 
with  the  same  difficulty.  He  almost  invariably  received  the  reply, 
"that  it  had  been  so  ordained  by  Teikirza."^  a  goddess,  and  this  was 
regarded  as  final.  The  Central  Australians  have  no  tradition 
which  deals  with  the  origin  of  the  Intichiuma  ceremonies,-  a  very 
important  series.  With  reference  to  the  initiation  ceremonies 
among  them,  there  are  often  the  most  naive  myths,  which  reveal  a 
strong  imagination  and  leave  the  impression  that  an  explanation  of 
some  sort  is  very  acceptable.^  but  which  could  scarcely  be  construed 
into  real  history.  Sometimes  the  myth  accompanying  the  ceremony 
does  ofiFer  an  explanation  of  certain  aspects  of  the  ceremony.  That 
the  rite-myth,  however,  ever  explains  all  the  symbolism  of  the  rite 

MV.  H.  R.  Rivers,  The  Todas,  p.  i86. 

"Spencer  and  Gillen,  The  Native  Tribes  of  Central  Australia,  p.  167. 

^Spencer  and  Gillen,  The  Northern  Tribes  of  Central  Australia,  pp.  344-46. 

'9 


20  THE   PSYCHOLOGY  OF   RITUALISM 

■  is  improbable.*  Then,  again,  there  is  the  peculiar  dilemma  of  two 
myths  purporting  to  explain  one  ceremony,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
most  ancient  Navajo  ceremony  now  in  existence,  the  kledji  qacal, 
or  night  chant.^  Altogether,  the  situation  appears  almost  hopeless 
when  viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  what  the  primitive  man  him- 
self consciously  contributes  toward  an  explanation  of  origins.  Con- 
temporary savages  know  little  or  nothing  about  the  real  origin  of 
their  many  rituals,  and  hence  we  ought  not  to  look  to  them  for  the 
solution  of  this  perplexing  problem  of  social  psychology. 

Here  the  second  difficulty  appears.  While,  in  a  sense,  it  is 
easier  to  look  down  from  a  higher  than  to  look  up  from  a  lower 
stage  of  culture,  there  is  always  the  danger  of  the  "psychologist's 
fallacy"  in  estimating  conditions  among  contemporaneous  savages, 
and  more  so  with  reference  to  aboriginal  humans.  It  is  certainly  a 
postulate  which  can  be  accepted  without  hesitation,  that  primitive 
man  does  not  reason  as  the  trained  scientist.  If  his  reactions  are 
symptomatic  in  any  sense  whatever,  so  much  would  surely  pass 
muster.  For  a  modern  scholar,  then,  to  sit  in  his  office  and  reason 
how  a  person  must  have  felt  under  the  conditions  in  which  aborigi- 
nal peoples  found  themselves,  and  assert  that  the  origin  of  religion 
is  to  be  sought  in  primitive  man's  exercise  of  his  faculty  of  "the 
perception  of  the  Infinite"  or  in  his  "sense  of  the  Infinite,"  certainly 
seems  to  be  misconstruing  the  situation.**  It  is  not  likely,  if  we  are 
to  judge  from  the  experience  that  most  individuals  in  a  higher  stage 
of  culture  have,  that  the  "perception  of  the  Infinite"  enters  largely 
into  the  warp  and  woof  of  the  material  of  which  life  is  made.  A 
careful  investigation  through  a  widely  circulated  questionnaire 
might  throw  further  light  on  this  subject. 

As  it  is,  we  must  adopt  a  different  method.  Three  guiding 
principles  will  put  us  on  a  modern  scientific  basis,  (i)  We  may 
begin  with  the  principle  of  the  comparative  psychologists  that,  from 
the  phylogenetic  standpoint,  there  is  no  real  gap  between  animal 
and  human  experience.     Man  has  started  out  with  instincts  and 

*  Washington  Matthews,  "Some  Illustrations  of  the  Connection  between 
Myths  and  Ceremony,"  The  International  Congress  of  Anthropology  (Chicago, 
1894),  P-  246. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  247. 

[^ fi-t  least  three  modern  scholars,  Max  Miiller,  C.  P.  Tiele,  and  Morris 
Jastrow,  Jr.,  fall  back  on  such  a  faculty  in  their  explanation  of  the  origin  of 
religion. 


INSTINCTS  AND  IMPULSES   OF   PRIMITIVE   CEREMONY  21 

impulses  common  to  animals.  What  progress  he  has  made  has  been 
from  that  point  on.  (2)  We  need  to  bear  in  mind  that,  though  the 
stage  of  culture  may  vary,  there  is  essential  similarity  in  the  menial 
organization  of  different  races  of  men.^  (3)  Our  third  principle  is 
taken  from  functional  psychology:  Mind,  wherever  found,  is  "an 
organ  of  service  for  the  control  of  environment  in  relation  to  the 
ends  of  the  life  process."^  With  these  three  principles  in  view  we 
may  venture  to  interpret  the  concrete  material  gathered  by  ethnolo- 
gists from  actual  observation  among  contemporary  savages,  or 
from  reliable  data  secured  through  archaeological  research. 

A  double  task  awaits  us  before  we  can  hope  to  give  a  rational 
answ^er  to  the  question  of  the  origin  and  development  of  ritualism. 
We  must,  in  the  first  place,  attempt  to  describe  the  place  of  some  of 
the  more  important  determining  instincts  and  impulses  in  the  primi- 
tive ceremony — that  is  to  say,  such  as  would  lead  to  overt  reactions 
which  would  tend  to  crystallize  into  group  habits,  and  thus  become 
ritualized.  Then  there  is  the  matter  of  the  organization  of  human 
consciousness,  which,  too.  is  a  consideration  of  first  importance, 
for  we  must  try  to  determine  whether  the  ritual  is  symptomatic 
merely  of  blind  impulse  and  chance  variation,  or  of  thought  also. 
In  the  present  chapter  we  turn  to  a  consideration  of  the  former. 
-  The  term  primitive,  as  applied  to  man,  has  come  to  have  a 
double  connotation  with  us.  Sometimes  we  use  it  with  reference 
to  contemporary  savages.  At  other  times  its  usage  applies  to 
aboriginal  humans.  While  it  may  be  true  in  a  general  sense  that 
aboriginal  human  traits  were  similar  to  those  of  existing  savages, 
yet  it  would  be  rather  bold  to  assume  that  a  study  of  contemporary 
savage  life  leads  to  accurate  inferences  regarding  the  aboriginal 
institutions.  Existing  savages  have  passed  through  a  long  period 
of  mental  development.  This  may  have  been  retarded,  and  hence 
be  more  closely  affiliated  with  aboriginal  reactions  than  that  of 
higher  stages  of  culture ;  yet  it  marks  an  actual  advance. 

The  evolutionary  point  of  view  suggests  comparative  psychology 
as  the  proper  field  in  which  to  look  for  impulses  and  instincts  that 
were  fundamental  and  determining  in  ancient  society.     Primitive 

man  was  first;  animal  and  then  man.    As  an  animal  he  was  a  bundle 

-1 

^  Franz  Boas,  The  Mind  of  Primitive  Man.  Vide  also  William  I.  Thomas, 
Source  Book  for  Social  Origins  (Chicago,  1909),  pp.  143-55. 

*John  Dewey,  Interpretation  of  Savage  Mind:  and  see  Source  Book  for 
Social  Origins,  p.    175. 


22  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   RITUALISM 

of  wants,  impulses,  and  instincts,  and  made  his  way  by  the  spon- 
taneous expression  of  characteristics  common  to  the  species.  That 
he  had  as  many  instincts  as  the  higher  animals  and  perhaps  even 
more,  would  seem  indisputable.''  As  a  man  he  supplemented  his 
instinctive  reactions  by  activity  under  the  control  of  thought.  Com- 
parative psychology  gives  a  long  list  of  instincts  and  impulses 
which  are  common  to  animals  and  man.  The  more  important 
ones  for  our  study  of  the  origin  of  ritualism  are  food,  sex,  fear, 
and  anger.     Food  and  sex  are  primary.^" 

It  is  probable  that  in  his  first  condition  man's  mode  of  life  was 
not  far  different  from  that  of  the  anthropoid  ape.  We  have  even 
at  this  late  date  an  example  in  the  Pygmy  of  a  human 
type  "almost  as  fully  arboreal  as  was  his  tree-dwelling 
ancestor.""  He  dwells  in  the  moist  and  sultry  depth  of  the  forest, 
and  pines  when  removed  from  his  native  realm  in  the  heart  of  the 
tropic  woods.  Primeval  man  probably  lived  upon  fruits  and  roots. 
This  kind  of  subsistence  restricted  him  to  a  tropical  or  subtropical 
climate.  *Tn  fruit  and  nut-bearing  forest  under  a  tropical  sun," 
our  progenitors  commenced  their  existence.^-  We  may  assume 
that  thti-s  early  man  had  the  power  of  abstraction,  for  it  is  likely 
thac  language  was  his  earliest  invention,  and  that  he  made  use  of  it 
while  he  was  yet  a  tree-liver.  But  in  this  stage  he  was  largely 
a  creature  of  instinct  and  impulse.  As  we  ascend  in  the  scale 
of  structural  organization,  subsistence  becomes  increasingly  diffi- 
cult and  the  food  impulse  relatively  stronger.  It  is  not  improbable 
that  intelligence  early  came  to  the  surface  in  some  food  crisis. 
We  may,  at  any  rate,  assert  that  the  food  impulse  was  a  controlling 
factor  in  aboriginal  man's  life.  He  may  have  been  frugivorous 
in  practice  for  some  time,  but  animal  food  became  a  part  of  his 
fare  at  any  early  period.  He  became  a  hunter,  and  from  that  time 
on.  the  food  impulse  became  even  more  determining.  Sex  began 
to  enter  in  as  an  essential  factor.  As  long  as  fruits,  nuts,  and 
roots  were  the  regular  fare,  man  and  woman  were  at  about  the 
same  advantage.     Both  could  gather  as  they  pleased.     When,  how- 

(  'Th.  Ribot,  The  Psychology  of  the  Emotions  (London,   1900),  p.    194. 

"'Vide  W.  L  Thomas,  Se.v  and  Society;  and  Edward  Scribner  Ames,  Psy- 
chology of  Religious  Experience,  chap,  iii,  "Determining  Impulses  in  Primitive 
Religion." 

"  Charles  Morris,  Man  and  His  Ancestors  (New  York.   1902),  p.   134. 
'^  Lewis  H.  Morgan,  Ancient  Society  (New  York,   1878),  p.  20. 


INSTINCTS  AND  IMPULSES   OF   PRIMITIVE   CEREMONY  23 

ever,  animal  food  became  a  necessity,  a  marked  division  of  labor 
resulted.  Men  were  engaged  in  tbe  hunt,  while  the  attention  of 
women  was  directed  chiefly  to  the  vegetable  environment.  Man's 
activities  required  strength,  violence,  speed,  craft,  and  foresight. 
Woman's  work  was  slow,  unspasmodic,  routine,  and  stationary.^''  > 
Man  was  the  hunter ;» woman  was  the  child-bearer  and  home-,' 
maker. 

The  thing  of  significance  is  that  the  food  impulse  manifested 
itself  in  totally  different  activities  in  men  and  women.    As  a  simple  \ 
impulse  back  of  the  hunt,  the  gathering  of  fruits,  the  sowing,  the 
reaping,  it  was  partly  responsible  for  specific  ceremonies  for  those  , 
occasions.    The  activities  of  both  men  and  women  were  represented ;  1 
but  man.  being  stronger  and  more  aggressive,  was  almost  invaria- 
bly the  leader  in  the  ceremony.     This  we  call  a  direct  influence 
upon  the  ceremony.    To  this  we  may  add  an  indirect  influence.   The 
differentiation   in   the  activities  between  men   and   women   in  get- 
ting the  necessary   food  had  a  marked  eftect  on  primitive  social 
organization.     It  was  one  of  the  controlling  factors  in  naming  the; 
totems,  and  in  this  way  definitely  determined  a  large  number  ofi 
the  totemic  ceremonies  of  the  Blacks  of  Australia,  the  Amerinds,' 
and  doubtless  of  other  primitive  peoples. 

Next  to  the  food  im]nilse  is  the  influence  of  the  instinct  of 
reproduction,  or  the  sex  impulse,  upon  primitive  man's  life.  It  is 
now  quite  generally  conceded  that  the  earliest  group- 
ings of  population  were  about  the  females.  When 
primitive  man  desired  a  mate,  he  sought  her.  Woman  became  the 
social  nucleus.  To  her.  man  returned  from  his  wanderings.  The 
relation  between  mother  and  child  became  peculiarly  intimate. 
"The  mother  and  her  children,  and  her  children's  children,  and  so 
on  indefinitely  in  the  female  line,  form  a  group."'*  Descent  was 
through  mother-right.  Exogamy,  so  characteristic  of  tribal  life, 
thus  was  a  natural  consequence  of  man's  "emotional  interest  in 
making  unfamiliar  sexual  alliances. "^^ 

Marriage  by  capture  was  probably  an  early  form.  It  is  not 
likely,  however,  that  it  ever  was  universal,  as  it  would  tend  to 
give  rise  to  the  blood  feud,  and  is  contrary  to  the  now  generally 
recognized  primitive  mother-right.     In  the  case  of  actual  hostility 

'"William   I.  Thomas,  Sex  and  Society   (Chicago,   1907),  p.    123. 
"/birf.,  p.  56. 
"/fciV.,  p.  57. 


24  THE   PSYCHOLOGY  OF   RITUALISM 

between  the  groups,  it  was  probably  the  normal  form;^®  but  for 
the  rest,  marriage  through  barter,  service,  or  purchase  w^as  in 
vogue.^^  The  significant  fact  for  our  study  is  that  marriage  cere- 
monies are  a  direct  outgrowth  of  the  sex  impulse,  and  this  not  only 
in  a  general  way.  The  specific  content  of  the  primitive  ceremony 
is  symptomatic  of  the  sex  impulse.  Thus  capture,  which  in  addition 
to  being  a  method  of  securing  waves  between  hostile  groups  also 
is  an  expression  of  female  co3mess^^  and  of  the  rapacious  nature 
of  the  male,  became  a  part  of  the  marriage  ceremony.  Among  the 
Bedouins  of  Sinai,  for  instance,  "the  bridegroom  seizes  the  woman 
whom  he  has  legally  purchased,  drags  her  into  her  father's  tent, 
lifts  her  violently  struggling  upon  her  camel,  holds  her  fast  while 
he  bears  her  away,  and  finally  pulls  her  forcibly  into  his  house, 
though  her  powerful  resistance  may  be  the  occasion  of  serious 
wounds."^''  Wife  purchase,  an  almost  universal  practice  among 
primitive  peoples,  remained  a  part  of  the  ceremony  after  it  had 
ceased  to  be  a  reality.^" 

\"  Spencer  and  Gillen,   The  Native  Tribes  of  Central  Australia,  p.   555. 

"Edward  Westermarck,  The  History  of  Human  Marriage  (London,  1901), 
chap,  xvii ;  George  Elliot  Howard,  A  History  of  Matrimonial  Institutions 
(Chicago,   1904),  I,  chap,  iv ;  William  I.  Thomas,  Sex  and  Society,  p.  78. 

**  William   I.   Thomas,  Source  Book   for  Social   Origins,  p.   533. 

^George  Elliot  Howard,  A  History  of  Matrimonial  Institutions,  I,   165  f. 

'"Westermarck,  op.  cit.,  p.  418.  Arnold  van  Gennep  gives  the  following 
account  of  betrothal  and  wedding  ceremonies  in  which  capture  and  marriage  by 
purchase  both  survive  in   the   marriage  ceremony  : 

"Je  citerai  la  sequence  de  ces  ceremonies  chez  les  Bhotia  du  Tibet 
meridional  et  du  Sikkim :  1°  des  magiciens  determinent  si  le  mariage  projete 
sera  favorable ;  2°  les  oncles  de  la  fille  et  ceux  du  gargon  se  reunissent  dans 
la  maison  du  gargon  puis  se  rendent  dans  celle  de  la  fille  et  la  demandent  en 
mariage;  3°  si  les  presents  qu'ils  ont  apportes  sont  acceptes  (ceremonie  de 
nangchang),  I'affaire  est  conclue ;  on  determine  le  montant  de  la  dot  et  4°  on 
offre  aux  intermediaires   un   repas   rituel   accompagne  de   prieres    (ceremonie   dite 

khelen) 5°    Un   an   apres   vient   la   ceremonie   nyen ;   c'est   un   repas    (aux 

frais  des  parents  du  fiance)  auquel  assistent  tous  les  apparentes  des  deux 
cotes ;  on  paie  le  prix  de  la  fille ;  6°  un  an  apres  le  nyen,  il  y  a  la  ceremonie 
changthoong ;  a)  un  magicien  determine  le  jour  favorable  pour  le  depart  de  la 
fiancee  de  chez  ses  parents ;  b)  on  organise  une  grande  fete  oil  sont  invites  des 
lamas;  c)  deux  hommes,  surnommes  a  ce  moment  "voleurs,"  penetrent  de  force 
dans  la  maison,  soi-disant  pour  voler  la  fiancee ;  on  se  livre  a  un  combat  simule ; 
les  "voleurs"  sont  rosses  et  on  leur  jette  de  la  viande  a  moitie  cuite  dans  la 
bouche  ;  ils  echappent  a  ce  traitement  en  donnant  de  I'argent  aux  gardiens  de  la 
fiancee.      Deux    jours    apres    les    "voleurs"    sont    honores    et    surnommes    "Les- 


INSTINCTS  AND  IMPULSES   OF    PRIMITIVE   CEREMONY  2$ 

The  marriage  ceremony  may  also  indicate  the  new  relation 
between ithe  man  and  the  woman.  "Sometimes  it  symbolizes  sexual 
intercourse,  but  more  frecjuently  the  living  together.'"-'  The  former 
is,  of  course,  an  extreme  case.  Marriage  ceremonies  of  this  type  , 
occur  in  Central  Australia  with  essential  uniformity.  Spencer  and 
Gillen  give  the  following  account  of  the  ceremony  in  the  Warra- 
munga  tribe : 

The  girl  is  taken  to  the  selected  spot  near  to  the  camp  by  an  elder  sister 
who  says  to  her,  "Come  with  me,  you  and  I  walk  along  corrobboree."  Three 
tribal  brothers  who  are  kulla-kulla  (lawful  husbands)  to  her,  the  actual 
husband  being  in  the  middle,  lie  down  full  length,  side  by  side  on  the  ground. 
The  elder  sister  places  the  girl  across  them  and  the  operation  (the  rite  of  cut- 
ting open  the  vagina)  is  performed  by  an  old  man  who  is  wankilli  (father's 

sister's   son)    to   the  girl After   the   operation   she   is   decorated   with 

string,  head-bands,  armlets,  and  necklets,  which,  later  on,  she  gives  to  her 
father  and  mother.  The  man  to  whom  she  has  been  allotted  at  once  takes 
her  to  his  camp,  where  she  remains  quietly  until  the  next  morning,  the 
two  sleeping  on  opposite  sides  of  the  fire.  For  two  or  three  mornings  after 
this  the  man  takes  her  out  with  him  when  he  goes  into  the  bush — still 
having  no  intercourse  with  her — and  on  each  occasion  he  rubs  her  body 
with  grease  and  red  ochre.  During  this  time,  she  is  busy  collecting  vege- 
table food — grass  seed  and  yams^ — and  takes  these  to  her  mother  and  elder 
sister,  who  then  tie  round  her  waist  the  small  string  apron  called  matjulari, 
the  emblem  of  a  married  woman  in  this  tribe.  For  two  nights  she  is  then 
lent  to  turtuiidi  (mother's  mother's  brother),  wanhilU  (father's  sister's 
son),  kankwia  (paternal  grandfather),  paperti  and  kukaitja  (elder  and 
younger  brothers,  but  not  in  blood),  and  kulla-kuHa  (lawful  husbands). 
After  this  she  becomes  the  property  of  the  man  to  whom  she  was  assigned." 

In  addition  to  its  influence  upon  the  content  of  the  marriage 
ceremony,  the  sex  impulse  is  doubtless  the  determining  factor  in 
circumcision,  subincision,  ceremonies  to  promote  the  growth  of  the 
breasts,  love  philters,  various  types  of  corroborees,  and  initiation 

strategistes-heureux" ;  d)  les  invites  font  des  presents  a  la  fiancee  et  a 
ses  parents;  c)  cortege  de  depart  avec  rejouissances ;  /')  le  pere  et  la  mere  du 
gargon  viennent  a  la  rencontre  du  cortege,  les  conduisent  chez  eux ;  fetes  pendant 
deux  ou  trois  jours;  g)  la  fille  et  ses  apparentes  retournent  chez  eux;  7°  de 
nouveau  iin  an  apres,  ceremonie  dite  palokh  ;  les  parents  de  la  fille  lui  remettant 
sa  dot  (le  double  de  ce  qu'on  a  paye  pour  elle  ou  d'avaniage)  et  on  la  conduit  en 
groupe  chez  le  fiance,  ou  cette  fois  elle  reste  dcfinitivement. — Les  Rites  de 
Passage  (Paris,   1909),  pp.   173  f. 

"  Westermarck,  op.  cit..  p.   419.  ' 

"Spencer  and  Gillen,  The  Northern  Tribes  of  Central  Australia,  pp.  134   f. 


26  THE   PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RITUALISM 

rites  in  general.  Passarge  gives  the  description  of  a  corroboree 
among  the  Bushmen — an  initiation  ceremony  of  a  girl — which  may 
serve  as  a  case  in  point : 

Die  IMadchen  sollen  keine  "Schule"  durchmachen,  aber  der  Eintritt 
der  Reife  wird  auch  gefeiert,  und  zwar  bei  den  Aikwe  dutch  den  Elandbull- 
tanz — duke.  Im  Chanse  hatte  ich  Gelegenheit,  einen  solchen  Tanz  zu 
beobachten  und  zu  photographieren.  Ein  Madchen  hatte  die  erste  Menstru- 
ation gehabt,  infolgedessen  versammeUen  sich  Manner  und  Frauen  zur 
Auffiihrung  des  durch  Sitte  und  Brauch  vorgeschriebenen  Tanzes.  Die 
alten  Weiber  stehen  an  einer  Stelle  und  bilden  die  Musikkapelle,  indem 
sie  singen,  in  die  Hande  klatschen  und  mit  Eisenstiicken  klappern.  Zu 
ihren  Fiissen  liegt  das  junge  Madchen  auf  der  Erde.  Die  verheirateten 
jiingeren  Frauen  gehen  nun  im  Gansemarsch,  zu  dem  Takt  der  Musik  mit 
den  Fiissen  aufstampfend  und  die  nach  abwarts  ausgestreckten  Arme  gleich- 

falls  rhythmisch  nach  unten  stossend,  um  das  Madchen  herum Dabei 

haben  sie  das  hintere  Schurtzfell  hochgehoben.  Mit  dem  entblossten  Gesass 
....  wackeln  und  kokettieren  sie  umher.  Das  geht  so  eine  Weile,  plotz- 
lich  naht  sich  ein  Buschmann  langsamen  Schrittes,  gleichfalls  im  Takt  mit 
den  Fiissen  stampfend  und  mit  den  angezogenen  Unterarmen  und  geballten 
Fausten  ebenfalls  den  Takt  schlagend.  Auf  dem  Kopf  hat  er  ein  paar  H5r- 
ner  nebst   einem   Stiick  Fell   befestigt 

Der    gehornte    Buschmann    ist    der    Bulle,    die    Weiber    sind    die    Kiihe, 

diese  Beziehung  ist  unverkennbar Die  Bewegungen  der  Bullen  und  der 

Kiihe  sind  dabei  so  drastisch,  dass  man  ohne  weiteres  erkennt,  es  handeh 
sich  um  eine  Szene  aus  der  Brunstzeit  der  imitierten  Tiere.^^ 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  the  lower  races  are  intensely 
interested  in  sexual  life.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that 
this  is  one  of  the  great  interests  of  aboriginal  man.  In  fact,  we 
may  assert  without  hesitation  that  a  large  number  of  ceremonies 
are  due  directly  to  the  sex  impulse,  and  that  its  indirect  influence 
pervades  a  great  many  more. 

From  the  phylogenetic  point  of  view,  fear  should  be  considered 
i,  a  derivative  rather  than  a  primary  instinct.  It  probably  first  came 
1\  -j,  to  the  surface  as  a  distinct  emotional  reaction  when  the 

i  animal    had    experienced    actual    danger    and     pain    in 

.quest  of  food.  When,  however,  we  come  to  higher  forms  of  ani- 
mal life,  it  has  become  a  definite  tendency.  It  no  longer  depends 
exclusively  upon  preceding  experience,  but  takes  the  form  of  a  con- 
servative instinct  in   the  defensive   form.-*     Usually,   though   not 

■^  S.   Passarge,  Die  Buschmdnner  der  Kalahari   (Berlin,    1907),  pp.    loi    f. 
•*  Th.  Ribot,  The  Psychology  of  the  Emotions,  p.  207. 


INSTINCTS  AND  IMPULSES   OF   PRIMITIVE   CEREMONY  27 

invariably,  flight  is  the  form  in  which  it  is  manifested.  The  unexH 
pected,  the  strange,  be  it  sound  or  sight,  causes  the  animal  to  run! 
or  fly  away,  if  possible ;  and  when  flight  is  impossible,  cringing' 
or  trembling  or  some  corresponding  reactions  are  common.  I 
remember  two  little  pups  belonging  to  a  friend  of  mine.  1  was 
a  stranger  to  them.  Though  they  played  about  the  yard  in  tiie 
presence  of  others  before  I  came,  the  moment  I  appeared  they  ran 
under  a  shed,  and  nothing  I  did  could  entice  them  out.  Birds  are 
afraid  of  a  scarecrow,  but  not  because  they  have  had  previous 
experience  with  it.  It  is  owing  to  their  instinctive  tendency  to  be 
afraid  of  a  strange  moving  object.  "My  friend  Professor  W.  K. 
Brooks,"  writes  James,  "told  me  of  his  large  and  noble  dog  being 
frightened  into  a  sort  of  epileptic  fit  by  a  bone  being  drawn  across 
the  floor  by  a  thread  which  the  dog  did  not  see."-'' 

In  children,  fear  manifests  itself  in  not  dissimilar  ways.  Every- 
one knows  of  the  instinctive  tendency  of  the  small  child  to  run 
away  from  the  strange  and  unexpected,  and  seek  the  protective 
care  of  its  mother.  Strange  men  and  strange  animals  very  fre- 
quently excite  fear.  Some  children  cry  with  terror  at  the  first! 
sight  of  a  cat  or  a  dog.  One  of  my  little  friends  had  often  said  that 
she  would  like  to  see  Santa  Claus.  As  Christmas  approached,  I 
reminded  her  that  she  would  have  an  opportunity  at  the  festival 
in  the  church.  She  was  very  eager  to  see  him  until  he  came.  But 
when  she  heard  him  in  the  vestibule  stamping  his  feet  and  speak- 
ing in  a  loud  voice,  and  then  saw  his  long  white  beard  and  fur 
coat  and  bold  mien,  she  cried,  saying  to  her  mother  to  whom  she 
clung.  "I  want  to  go  home!" 

This  primitive  type  of  fear  is  relatively  undift'erentiated.  and  isA 
of  course,  part  of  primitive  man's  original  endowment.     The  fear-  ' 
inspiring    object    "sets    the    whole    motor    apparatus    going  at    the 
highest    rate."-"      But    experience    soon    comes    in    to    modify    the 
reaction.     "The  fear  force  is  gradually  rationalized  and  made  less 
spasmodic  and  so  more  adaptive."     Increasing  discrimination  as  to 
the  amount  of  pain  likely  to  be  inflicted  aft'ects  the   intensity  of 
the  reaction.     To  this  we  may  add  a  vivid   representation  on  the 
part  of  primitive  man  of  potential  pain,  i.e.,  of  the  liability  of  its  ' 
occurrence  and  the  degree  when  it  occurs.    'This  vivid  representa- 

^' William  James,  Psychology,  Briefer  Course  (New   York,    1907),  p.  412. 

"  Hiram    M.    Stanley,    Studies    in    the    Evolutionary    Psychology    of   Feeling 
(London,  1895),  p.   109. 


28  THE   PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RITUALISM 

tion  becomes  a  powerful  stimulation  for  adaptive  conduct.  "Fear," 
writes  Stanley,  "is  a  primary  and  most  important  motive  to  action 
in  a  very  wide  range  of  the  lower  mental  life.  Those  who  have 
observed  animals  and  man  in  a  state  of  nature  are  always  greatly 
impressed  with  the  constant  and  large  part  which  the  emotion  plays 
in  their  consciousness."-^ 

We  are  now  ready  to  understand  how  important  a  place  fear 
has  in  the  primitive  ceremony.  In  the  Intichiuma  ceremonies  cited 
above,  as  well  as  in  the  rain  ceremony,  the  "great  fear,"  starva- 
tion, may  easily  become  the  leading  motive.  In  fact,  it  is  not 
at  all  unlikely  that  it  took  a  very  important  part  in  their  origin. 
A  significant  fact  in  confirmation  of  this  is  that  in  the  case  of  the 
Australians  the  Intichiuma  are  not  universally  observed.  Passing 
from  the  center  of  the  continent  north  toward  the  Gulf  of  Carpen- 
taria, we  find  that  among  the  coastal  tribes,  Binbinga,  Mara,  and 
Anula,  there  are  only  traces  of  these  ceremonies.  This  is  doubt- 
less due  to  the  more  abundant  rainfall  which  insures  a  more  certain 
food  supply.-*  In  the  southeast,  Queensland,  New  South  Wales, 
Victoria,  and  South  Australia,  they  are  entirely  absent.  The  reason 
for  this,  according  to  Dr.  Howitt,  is  "the  far  more  favorable  con- 
ditions under  which  they  live."-"  I  cannot  help  feeling  that  the 
"great  fear"  has  had  the  first  place  in  the  specific  application  of  cere- 
monies to  the  food  and  rain  situation  in  the  regions  under  considera- 
tion. That  the  same  tendency  is  at  work  among  the  Amerinds  is 
shown  by  the  observation  made  by  Fewkes  regarding  the  elaborate 
Snake  dance  of  the  Hopi  Indians  of  Arizona.  "The  present  pur- 
pose of  the  Snake  ceremony,  which  in  many  publications  has  been 
confounded  with  the  original  aim,  is  primarily  ....  to  bring  rain 
and  thus  promote  the  growth  of  corn ;  in  fact  this  desire,  due  to 
present  environment,  dominates  all  the  rites  of  the  Hopi  ritual."^" 
In  Arizona  the  climatic  conditions  are  essentially  the  same  as  in 
Central  Australia. 

The  illustrations  cited  above  are  in  harmony  with  the  position 
taken  that  fear  becomes  a  powerful  motive  in  preventing  a  repe- 
tition of  painful  or  calamitous  experiences.     In  this  instance,  it  is 

"  Hiram  M.  Stanley,  Studies  in  the  Evolutionary  Psychology  of  Feeling 
(London,   1895),  p.  94. 

^The  Northern  Tribes  of  Central  Australia,  p.  318. 

^  The  Native  Tribes  of  South-east  Australia,  p.   152. 

'"Jesse  Walter  Fewkes,  "Tusayan  Flute  and  Snake  Ceremonies,"  Nineteenth 
Annual  Report  of  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  p.   1009. 


INSTINCTS  AND  IMPULSES   OF   PRIMITIVE   CEREMONY  29 

a  food  crisis.    There  are.  however,  many  cases  on  record  where  thei 
food  impulse  is  lacking.     The  ceremonies  concerned  with  the  W0I-' 
lunqua  Totem  of  the  Warramunga  tribe  of  Australia  are  an  excel- 
lent  example."^      The   W'oUunqua.   a   mythic   monster — "though    it 
must  be  remembered  that  it  is  anything  but  mythic  in  the  eyes  oi 
the  native" — is  supposed  to  be  so  large  that  "if  it  were  to  stanq 
on  its  tail,  its  head  would  reach  far  away  into  the  heavens."     Its 
present    home    is    a    large    water    hole    in    a    lonely    valley    in    the 
Murchison  Range,  whence  the  natives  fear  it  may  venture   forth, 
and  do  damage.   So  afraid  are  they  of  this  monster  that  they  do  noU 
use  its  real  name  among  themselves,  but  call  it  iirkulu  nappaurinma,\ 
or  "snake  living  in   water."     One   feature  of   striking   interest   in' 
the  ceremonies  of  this  totem  is  that  in  scope  and  nature  they  are 
very  similar  to  those  of  the  Black  Snake  Totem.     The  motive  back 
of  them,  however,  is  the  control  of  the  dreadful  monster,  rather 
than  the  increase  of  the  totem.     One  of  the  WoUunqua  ceremonies, 
according  to  Spencer  and  Gillen,  was  begun  by  digging  a  trench 
north  and  south,  fifteen  feet  long  and  two  feet  wide.     This  was 
then  filled  with  sand  mixed  with  water, 

every  handful  being  carefully  patted  down  until  linally  a  keel-shaped  mound 
was  made  about  two  feet  high  and  tapering  off  towards  either  end,  its 
length  corresponding  to  that  of  the  original  trench.  On  the  smooth  surface 
a  long  wavy  band,  about  four  inches  in  width,  was  outlined  on  each  side, 
the  two  bands  meeting  at  both  ends.     At  the  northern   end  a  small  round 

swelling   indicated    the    head The    whole    double    band    indicated    the 

body  of  the  WoUunqua."''" 

The  mound  was  finished  late  in  the  afternoon.  The  Uluuru  men 
to  whom  it  really  belonged  then  came  to  the  sacred  ground, 
approaching  the  mound  in  single  file.  The  Wollunqua  is  believed 
to  have  seen  his  representation  and  to  be  wriggling  about  under- 
neath. One  of  the  Uluuru  men  took  a  gum  bough  in  his  hand  and 
stroked  the  base  of  the  mound  to  appease  the  snake.  The  cere- 
mony continued  all  night.  At  times  they  sang  for  long  stretches 
at  a  time  without  pausing.     When  three  o'clock  came, 

amidst  a  scene  of  wildest  excitement,  fires  were  lighted  all  around  the  cere- 
monial   ground The    Uluuru    men    ranged    themselves    in    single    file 

kneeling  beside  the  mound,  and  with  their  hands  upon  their  thighs  surged 
round  and  round  it,  every  man  in  unison  bending  over  first  to  one  side  and 

'^  The  Northern    Tribes  of  Central  Australia,  chap.  vii.  pp.   226-56. 
''Ibid.,  pp.  233  f. 


30  THE   PSYCHOLOGY  OF   RITUALISM 

then  to  the  other,  each  successive  movement  being  accompanied  by  a  loud 
and  simultaneous  shout.  The  Kingilli  men  were  standing  all  around  in  a 
state  of  greatest  excitement,  the  oldest  man  amongst  them  swaying  his 
body  about  as,  with  exaggerated  high-knee  action,  he  walked  backwards  at 
the  head  of  the  kneeling  procession  of  the  Uluuru  men.  As  the  Kingilli 
clanged  their  boomerangs  together,  the  Uluura  swayed  about  wildly  from 
side  to  side  shouting,  or  rather  yelling  at  each  movement,  "Yrrsh !  yrrsh! 
yrrsh !" 

When  the  earliest  streak  of  dawn  appeared,  the  Uluuru  men, 
urged  to  their  task  by  the  Kingilli,  "fiercely  attacked  the  mound 
with  spears,  boomerangs,  clubs  and  spear-throwers,  until,  in  a 
few  minutes,  it  was  hacked  to  pieces  and  all  that  remained  was  a 
rough  heap  of  sandy  earth. "^^  The  object  of  this  ceremony  is 
obviously  to  persuade,  almost  to  force,  the  Wollunqua  to  remain 
in  his  water  hole,  and  "to  do  no  harm  to  any  of  the  natives."  It  is 
probable  that  this  ceremony  had  its  origin  in  some  particular  inci- 
dent in  which  fear  was  very  prominent.  At  any  rate,  fear  is  the 
impulse  back  of  it  now. 

Fear  is  directly  related  to  self-preservation.  It  is  a  conserva- 
tive instinct  in  the  defensive  form.  Things  that  inhibit,  thwart, 
destroy  are  fearful.  They  cause  pain  and  may  eventuate  in  death. 
Strange  things  frequently  are  fearful.  They  may  be  a  menace  to 
life.  The  organism  is  so  constituted  that  it  is  always  on  the  look- 
i  out  for  the  thing  that  may  cause  harm.  Fear  is  the  instinct  that 
\  sets  it  in  an  attitude  of  defense  or  self-protection. 

It  thus  makes  possible  the  almost  universal  prevalence  of 
taboos  among  primitive  peoples.  Fear  of  the  future  eventuates  in 
various  types  of  divination — such,  for  instance,  as  when  the  Baby- 
lonian priests  read  the  liver  of  the  acceptable  animal  in  order  to 
ascertain  whether  the  war  contemplated  by  the  king  would  end 
favorably  or  unfavorably.  And  finally,  fear  is  the  determining 
factor  in  a  considerable  number  of  funeral  ceremonies  and  pro- 
pitiatory rites.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind,  in  this  connection,  that 
the  thesis  which  we  have  tried  to  establish  in  regard  to  fear  is 
not  that  fear  determines  the  entire  content  of  the  ceremony,  but 
only  that  it  enters  in  as  an  important  impulse  in  a  large  number 
of  cases.  We  are  not  persuaded  that  Lucretius  was  correct 
when  he  said :    "Primus  in  orbe  timor   fecit  deos." 

^^  The  Northern  Tribes  of  Central  Australia,  pp.  237  f. 


INSTINCTS  AND  IMPULSES   OF   PRIMITIVE   CEREMONY  3I 

Anger,  like  fear,  is  a  derivative  rather  than  a  primary  instinct. 
It  is  found  low  in  the  animal  scale,  and  probably  first  appeared 
as  a  distinct  emotional  reaction  when  the  animal  was 
frustrated  in  its  quest  for  food.  In  its  effort  to  defend 
itself  against  the  opposing  animal,  it  became  angered  and  was) 
successful.  Anger  became  the  instinct  of  conservation  under  the 
offensive  form.  Fear  had  enabled  the  animal  to  avoid  loss,  but 
this  new  instinct  was  aggressive  in  overcoming  hindrance.  "Fear 
is  regressive,  anger  is  aggressive.  Fear  is  contractile,  anger  is 
expansive.  Fear  is  the  emotion  of  the  pursued,  the  prey ;  anger 
is  the  emotion  of  the  pursuer,  of  the  predaceous."'**  It  was  a 
momentous  day  in  the  evolution  of  mind  when  some  individual 
actually  became  angry. 

The  characteristic  thing  about  anger  is  self-assertion.  When 
it  becomes  an  overt  reaction,  it  takes  the  form  of  open  hostility. 
It  is  the  direct  opposite  of  fear.  When  the  animal  is  afraid  it 
tries  to  extricate  itself  from  the  painful  situation,  and  having 
accomplished  this,  it  is  satisfied.  When  the  animal  is  angry  it  is 
under  the  impulse  of  inflicting  positive  injury.  Stanley  holds  that 
"with  early   psychisms,   all   perceptions   of   objects   end   in   either 

anger    or    fear The   organism   perceives    the    object  .... 

feels  fear  and  dashes  away  from  it,  or  feels  anger  and  dashes 
against  it.  In  higher  forms  experience  has  entered  in  and  con- 
trols the  degree  of  hostility. "^'^  But  even  in  man  it  is  present  in 
some  measure  in  its  first  form.  Children  of  two  months  push 
away  objects  they  do  not  like,  with  real  fits  of  passion,  growing 
red  in  the  face,  trembling  all  over,  and  sometimes  shedding  tears. 
"At  about  one  year  old  they  will  beat  people,  animals,  and  inani- 
mate objects  if  they  are  angry  with  them,  throw  things  at  offend- 
ing persons,  and  the  like."^®  Nor  does  this  simple,  immediate 
sort  of  anger  disappear  entirely  in  adult  life.  Who  has  not  felt 
an  instinctive  wave  of  anger  when  he  has  knocked  his  shin  against 
a  rocking-chair  in  tlie  dark,  or  struck  his  head  against  a  low 
door?  The  reason  for  this  is  that  anger  is,  first  and  always,  a 
social  instinct.  The  feeling  of  resentment  which  appears  is  but 
a  vestige  of  the  way  in   which  lower   forms  react  against  every 


^Stanley,  op.  cit.,  p.  128. 
*Ibid.,  p.   137. 


"Charles  Horton  Cooky,  Human  Nature  and  the  Social  Order  (New  York, 
1902),  p.  232. 


32  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RITUALISM 

frustrating  object.  It  is  only  very  gradually  that  man  has  attained 
the  ability  to  distinguish  between  the  physical  and  the  social,  and 
has  come  to  feel  that  it  is  after  all  absurd  to  be  angry  at  a  chair 
or  a  door. 

On  one  of  my  travels  in  the  interior  of  China,  I  was  one  morn- 
ing the  witness  of  a  most  interesting  ceremony  in  which  anger 
was  the  impelling  motive.  A  Chinese  woman,  according  to  the 
regular  custom,  had  hung  out  some  clothes  on  a  bamboo  pole 
to  dry,  and  a  thief  had  come  along  and  stolen  them  while  she 
was  inside  looking  after  the  house.  When  she  came  out  in  front 
of  the  house  and  discovered  that  her  clothes  had  disappeared,  she 
flew  into  a  rage.  Forthwith  she  anathematized  the  thief  by  all 
the  gods  of  the  pantheon,  and  perceiving  that  it  was  of  no  avail 
she  turned  her  attention  to  magic.  Seizing  a  bundle  of  straw 
from  the  roof  of  the  house,  she  twisted  it  into  a  shape  vaguely 
resembling  a  man.  This  effigy  of  the  thief  she  held  on  a  block 
of  wood  and  then  proceeded  to  chop  it  in  a  thousand  pieces,  while 
she  wished  the  perpetrator  of  the  crime  every  curse  that  earth 
and  the  infernal  regions  might  have  in  store. 

Far  from  being  an  exceptional  method  among  primitive  peoples, 
this  magical  ceremony  is  but  one  out  of  many.  A  very  common 
method  of  venting  one's  anger  is  to  make  the  efiigy  of  wax,  clay, 
or  other  material,  and  then  stick  pins  or  needles  through  it,  or 
otherwise  maltreat  it,  with  the  definite  purpose  of  thereby  caus- 
ing the  death  of  the  enemy.^'  In  Australia  pointing-sticks  are 
commonly  used  in  evil  magic.  These  are  "short  sticks  or  bones 
with  one  end  sharpened  and  the  other  usually,  but  not  always, 
tipped  with  porcupine-grass  resin. "^^  Spencer  and  Gillen  give 
the  following  description  of  the  use  of  these  sticks : 

In  the  Arunta  tribe  a  man  desirous  of  using  any  of  these  goes  away  by 
himself  to  some  lonely  spot  in  the  bush,  and,  placing  the  stick  or  bone  in 
the  ground,  crouches  down  over  it,  muttering  the  following  or  some  similar 
curse  as  he  does  so : 

"May  your  heart  be  rent  asunder." 

^  Vide  Malay  Magic,  pp.  570-74.  In  West  Africa,  "if  you  want  to  cause  an 
enemy  to  die,  you  make  a  clay  figure  that  is  supposed  to  represent  him,  with  a 
needle  you  pierce  the  figure,  and  your  enemy,  the  first  time  he  comes  in  contact 
with  a  foe,  will  be  speared." — Robert  Hamill  Nassau,  Fetichism  in  West  Africa 
(New  York,  1904),  p.  117. 

^The  Northern  Tribes  of  Central  Ajistralia,  p.  455. 


INSTINCTS   AND  IMPULSES   OF    PRIMITIVE   CEREMONY  33 

"May  your  backbone  be  split  open  and  your  ribs  torn  asunder." 

"May  your  head  and  throat  he  split  open." 

Having  done  this  he  returns  to  his  camp  leaving  the  inia  (stick)  in  the 
ground,  but  after  some  time  he  brings  it  back  again  and  secretes  it  somewhere 
close  to  his  camp.  Then  one  evening,  after  it  has  grown  dark  ....  he 
removes  the  stick  from  its  hiding-place,  and,  taking  care  that  no  one  sees 
him,  quietly  creeps  up  until  he  is  close  enough  to  distinguish  the  features  of 
his  victim.  He  then  stoops  down,  and  turning  his  back  to  the  camp,  takes 
the  inta  in  both  hands  and  jerks  it  repeatedly  over  his  shoulders,  muttering 
the  same  curses  again.  The  evil  magic  ....  goes  from  the  point  of  the 
inia  straight  to  the  man,  who  afterwards,  without  apparent  cause,  sickens 
and  dies,  unless  his  life  is  saved  by  some  medicine  man  w^ho  can  discover 
and  remove  evil  magic,''' 

Besides  the  methods  described,  there  are  numerous  other  ways 
of  inflicting  permanent  injury  and  death  by  means  of  the  magical 
ceremony.  It  is  obvious  that  anger  and  its  derivative,  jealousy, 
are  important  factors,  both  in  the  origin  and  in  the  survival 
of  such  ceremonies.  The  influence  here  is  direct.  The  war  dance 
is  a  ceremony  in  which  anger  may  have  both  a  primary  and  a 
secondary  influence.  Sometimes  the  Amerinds  had  the  war  dance 
just  before  they  started  on  an  expedition.  At  other  times,  it  took 
place  after.  In  some  instances,  perhaps,  both  before  and  after. 
But  in  any  case,  the  object  was  to  stir  up  and  give  vent  to  violent 
passion.  Peter  Jones,  missionary  to  the  Indians,  thus  describes 
the  dance : 

The  war  dance  is  designed  to  kindle  the  passion  for  war  in  every 
breast;  and  certainly,  when  we  consider  their  war  song,  painted  bodies,  war 
implements,  and  the  warriors'  antics  performed  on  such  occasions,  nothing 
could  be  better  calculated  to  rouse  the  feeling  to  the  highest  state  of  excite- 
ment. A  smooth  piece  of  ground  is  chosen  for  the  exhibition,  in  the  center 
of  which  a  pole  is  placed.  The  singers  take  their  seats  and  begin  to  beat 
on  their  drums,  to  which  they  keep  time  by  singing  in  a  most  monotonous 
tone.  The  warriors,  fully  equipped,  dance  round  and  round  the  pole, 
brandishing  their  tomahawks,  throwing  their  bodies  into  all  sorts  of  postures, 
and  raising  at  intervals  the  hideous  war  whoop.  A  warrior  will  occasionally 
strike  the  pole,  which  is  a  signal  that  he  is  about  to  make  a  speech.  On  a 
sudden  the  dancing  and  singing  cease,  and  all  attention  is  given  to  the 
speaker  while  he  relates  his  war  exploits,  and  receives  the  hearty  response 
of  the  assembly.    At  these  dances  they  also  have  a  sham  fight  in  which  they 

^Ibid.,  Rp.  457  f. 


34  THE   PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RITUALISM 

exhibit   the   manner   of    surprising  the   enemy — tomahawking,    scalping,    and 
drinking  the  blood  of  the  foe." 

IVIanifestly  various  impulses  are  operating  in  the  war  dance 
as  described  by  Jones,  but  that  pugnacity  takes  the  first  place  is 
shown  by  the  very  nature  of  the  ceremony.  The  thought  of 
impending  war  and  the  reinstating  of  movements  in  the  dance 
which  have  actually  taken  place  in  combat  tend  to  arouse  the 
passion  for  war.  If  to  this  we  add  the  fact  that  speeches  are  made 
by  the  warriors  in  which  they  relate  the  successes  of  previous 
wars,  and  call  special  attention  to  the  wrongs  perpetrated  against 
the  tribe  by  the  enemy,  it  is  easy  to  understand  that  the  natives 
are  brought  thoroughly  under  the  influence  of  the  instinct  of  pug- 
nacity. 

Herewith  we  close  the  discussion  of  determining  instincts  and 
impulses  in  ritualism.  The  situation  is  so  complex  that  it  is  next 
to  impossible  to  do  it  full  justice.  In  many  instances,  there  are  a 
number  of  determining  impulses — that  is  to  say,  there  is  over- 
lapping. Which  impulse  will  be  of  first  importance  will  depend 
upon  the  situation  which  is  to  be  controlled.  No  attempt  has 
been  made  to  give  an  exhaustive  list.  Others — such,  for  instance, 
as  self-display,  an  instinct  closely  related  to  the  sex  instinct — might 
have  been  discussed,  but  only  those  have  been  selected  that  appear 
to  be  of  first  importance.  In  his  Development  of  Religion*'^  Pro- 
fessor King  has  placed  considerable  emphasis  upon  play  in  the 
genesis  of  the  religious  attitude.  To  the  present  writer,  the  place 
of  play  appears  of  minimum  importance  in  the  origin  of  ritualism. 
Practical  interests  are  by  far  the  most  important.  Play  itself,  when 
viewed  from  the  agent's  standpoint,  is  largely  a  practical  mterest. 
Take  the  little  girl  playing  with  her  dolls,  for  example.  How  does 
she  regard  them?  Are  they  so  much  porcelain,  hair,  sawdust,  and 
cloth,  made  into  a  doll  cold  and  lifeless?  No.  The  child  enters 
into  an  actual  living  relation.  She  is  the  mother  of  the  child. 
The  baby  must  be  sung  to  sleep,  or  wheeled  about  in  the  go-cart, 
or  taught  how  to  pray.  For  the  time  being,  this  activity,  spon- 
taneous though  it  may  be,  contains  for  the  child  a  large  prac- 
tical element. 

*°  Peter  Jones,  History   of  the   Ojebzvay  Indians    (London,    1861),   p.    133. 
"Irving  King,  Development  of  Religion   (New  York,   1910),  chap.  v. 


INSTINCTS  AND  IMPULSES   OF   PRIMITIVE   CEREMONY  35 

In  the  development  and  survival  of  the  ceremony,  so-called' 
play  activities  may  emerge,  but  not  without  practical  implica- 
tions. Thus,  in  the  course  of  the  prolonged  and  serious  initiation 
ceremonies  of  the  lllacks  of  Southeast  Australia,  humorous  situa- 
tions are  introduced  to  relieve  the  strain  and  monotony.  More- 
over, there  is.  to  judge  from  personal  observation,  among  variousi 
stages  of  culture  a  tendency  (due  to  a  complex  of  instincts  and 
impulses,  as  well  as  to  the  law  of  habit)  to  subserve  in  the  form 
of  play  activities  interests  which  in  time  past  were  essential  to  the 
struggle  for  life.  The  popular  theater  in  China,  and  many  of  our 
modern  plays  are  cases  in  point.  The  various  rituals  of  the  Irofiuois 
also  contain  such  elements.^- 

In  this  general  class  of  instinctive  and  impulsive  acts,  though 
strictly  speaking  some  are  not  instincts,  we  include  all  activities  of 
the  psychophysical  organism  due.  not  to  thought,  but  to  more  or 
less  automatic  action.  The  probable  origin  of  the  lamentation  rites 
in  the  spontaneous  outburst  of  grief  at  the  death  of  a  particularly 
intimate  member  of  the  group  is  an  example.  The  thing  of 
importance  for  our  study  is  that  this  substratum  of  instinct, 
impulse,  and  reflex  action  which  functions  in  man's  efforts  to 
control  his  environment  appears  in  the  rites  and  ceremonies  in 
various  forms.  Ritualism  is  built  upon  this  native  endowment, 
not  however,  let  it  be  noted,  consciously  qua  ritualism.  What 
primitive  man   sought  was  not   ritual  but  control.  ' 

^^  Lewis  H.  Morgan,  League  of  the  Iroquois  (New  York,  1904). 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  PLACE  OF  ATTENTION   IN  THE  PRIMITIVE  CEREMONY 

Primitive     man's     ceremonies     represent     the  ,  functioning    of 
inherited  tendencies  to  action.     The  imm'ediate  and  pressing  needs 
'  in   the   conservation   of   life  have  given   rise  to   them.      Primitive 
1  man  has  the  sex  impulse,  and  consequently  the  marriage  ceremony. 
]  He  has  the  food  impulse,  but  the  climate  is  hot  and  dry  and  there 
is  no  food.     Hence    he    has    the    rain    ceremony.     He  has  been 
injured  by  someone,  or  frustrated  in  his  desires,  and  anger  func- 
tions  in  offensive   action.     Hence   primitive.,  man   has   the   "black 
art."     In  so  far  as  the  ceremony  is  an  expression  of  innate  hered-, 
itary  acts  and   nothing  more,  there  is  no   conscious   control,   and 
the  question  of  origin  is  entirely  submerged  in  the  problem  of  the 
genesis  of  these  attitudes  and  is  purely  a  question  of  phylogenesis. 
But  to  the  writer  many  of  the  ceremonies  described  by  the  anthro- 
pologist seem  to  give  evidence  of  thought^  as  well  as  of  instinct 
and  impulse. 

A  careful  sj:udy  of  the  organization  of  human  consciousness 
will  throw  further  light  upon  the  question  of  origins  and  develop- 
ment as  far  as  there  is  indication  of  thought  in  ritualism.  The 
view  taken  by  Brinton  and  Pfleiderer  regarding  the  origin  of  rites 
may  serve  as  a  point  of  departure.  Both  agree  in  placing  it  in 
mimicry  or  imitation  of  higher  powers.  "The  oldest  religious 
usages  of  all  were  not,"  writes  Pfleiderer,  "as  is  generally  supposed, 
sacrifice   and    prayers    in    which    men    bring   before    the    heavenly 

ones  definite  wishes  which  they  entreat  them  to  grant The 

oldest  usages  were  much  more  naive  ....  acts,  in  fact,  which 
imitate  the  doings  of  the  higher  powers,  or  are  meant  to  accom- 
pany and  assist  these  doings."-  Brinton  gives  his  view  in  the 
following  words :  "The  mimicry  or  imitative  origin  of  rites  is 
well  illustrated  in  that  in  use  for  'rain-making,'  one  of  the  com- 
monest of  all.  In  periods  of  drought  the  Indian  rain-maker 
mounts  to  the  roof  of  his  hut,  and  rattling  vigorously  a  dry  gourd 

^Vide  John  Dewey,  How  We  Think   (Boston,   1910),  chap.  i. 

^  Otto  Pfleiderer,  The  Philosophy  of  Religion  on  the  Basis  of  Its  History 
(London,   1888),  III,  24. 

36 


PLACE  OF  ATTENTION  IN    PRIMITIVE   CEREMONY  37 

containing  pebbles  to  represent  the  thunder,  scatters  water  through 
a  reed  on  the  ground  beneath,  as  he  imagines  up  above  in  the 
clouds  do  the  spirits  of  the  storm. "^ 

The  first  objection  to  any  such  statement  of  the  origin  of  cere- 
monies is  that  there  is  reason  to  believe,  as  we  shall  show  later,  that 
primitive  man  made  use  of  ceremonies  before  he  had  framed  the 
concept  of  gods.  Anthropologists  at  this  late  day  give  descriptions 
of  ceremonies  in  which  no  higher  power  has  a  place.  Spencer  and 
Gillen,  for  instance,  make  the  statement  regarding  the  Intichiuma 
ceremonies,  that  "their  performance  is  not  associated  in  the  native 
mind  with  the  idea  of  appealing  to  the  assistance  of  any  super- 
natural being."*  But  granted  that  the  savage  has  a  notion  of  a 
higher  power,  supernatural  being,  or  god,  it  yet  is  true  that  the 
ceremony  did  not  have  its  origin  merely  in  the  imitation  of  that 
power.     Brinton's  illustration  will  serve  to  bring  out  this  point. 

Wherever  the  rain  ceremony  is  in  vogue,  there  are  periods  when 
there  is  great  need  of  rain.    The  rain  ceremony  is  the  type  of  overt 
reaction  used  by  primitive  man  in  attempting  to  produce  rain.    The 
savage  is  in  a  position  of  stress  and  strain.     He  is  facing  a  crisis. 
Perhaps  his  corn  is  drying  up  in  the  field,  or  it  is  time  that  the  dry 
season  come  to  a  close,  and  the  warm  rains  descend  and  transform 
the  desert  into  a  paradise.     Starvation  threatens.     What  shall  he 
do?     There   seems   but   one   way   of   escape.      He   knows   that   he 
cannot   make   rain   himself.      If    rain   is   to  come,   the   power   that 
makes   rain   must  be   influenced.      But   how   can   this  be   effected  ? 
The  answer  is  not  far  off.     He  must  influence  the  personified  rain, 
or  the  higher  power  that  causes   rain.     The  Central  Australians  [ 
afford  an  example  of  the  former,  and  the  Indians  of  New  Mexico 
and  Arizona  of  the  latter.     Given  a  language,   which  presumably; 
man  had  before  he  migrated  to  districts  where  drought /occurred  and  ^ 
rain  became  imperative,  one  natural   resort  would  be  to  it  as  an  I 
influencing  medium.    Language  is  today  actually  used  by  the  Kaffirs  1 
in  trying  to  stop  a  storm.    Or  we  may  express  it  in  another  way  by 
saying  that  there  would  be  a  tendency  to  resort  to  gesture.     It  is  in 
the  realm  of  gesture  that  all  men  live.    Language  itself  is  a  type  of 
gesture.     Man  is  as  much  at  home  in  gesture  as  the  duck  in  water. 
The  "We  want  you  to  rain"  of  primitive  man's  language  when 

*  Brinton,  op.  cit.,  pp.  173  f. 

*  The  Native  Tribes  of  Central  Australia,  p.    i;o. 


y 


38  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF   RITUALISM 

carried  over  into  pantomimicry  is  the  rain  ceremony  of  the  Indian, 
or  of  the  Central  Australian,  or  of  the  rain-maker  of  Torres  Straits. 

It  is  doubtless  due  to  hasty  generalization  that  both  Pfleiderer 
and  Brinton  see  in  this  process  nothing  more  than  imitation  of  the 
higher  power.  They  are  correct  in  so  far  as  the  rain  ceremony  is  an 
attempt  at  a  reproduction  of  the  rain  situation,  but  miss  the  point 
when  they  judge  that  "definite  wishes"  are  not  thereby  presented 
to  the  higher  power.  Suggestion  is  present,  but  there  is  more  than 
that.  The  rain  ceremony  is  an  instance  of  the  gesture  process. 
Pantomimicry  here  involves  putting  oneself  into  the  place  of  the 
higher  power.  Pfleiderer  and  Brinton  recognize  this.  But  panto- 
mimicry also  implies  representation,  for  man  is  from  the  start 
social.  When  he  engages  in  pantomimicry  there  is  always  some 
real  or  imaginary  social  being  to  be  influenced.  In  this  case  the 
savage  goes  through-  the  gesture  that  means  rain,  and  this  implies 
asking  for  rain. 

Human  consciousness,  then,  is  not  organized  on  the  principles 
which  seem  to  underlie  the  arguments  of  both  writers.  When  our 
ancestors  w^ere  gradually  coming  up  from  their  very  humble  origin 
in  the  animal  world,  they  brought  with  them  a  native  endowment 
consisting  of  a  group  of  instincts  or  tendencies  to  action  accom- 
panied by  certain  emotions.  Race  habits  we  may  call  them.  We 
have  no  reason  for  assuming,  however,  that  among  these  instincts 
there  w^as  one  that  made  men  ab  initio  religious,  or  that  there  was 
one  which  urged  them  blindly  to  imitate  everything  they  saw,  or 
even  that  which  they  very  much  desired.  The  instincts  which  they 
brought  with  them  were  all  tendencies  to  action  that  had  been  of 
immeasurable  value  in  the  onward  progress  already  made  and  con- 
stituted the  foundation  upon  which  man  was  to  build  his  structure 
of  culture.  The  process  in  the  race  has  been,  on  the  whole,  upward 
from  this  foundation,  and  the  theory  of  recapitulation  as  applied  to 
the  mental  phase  of  life  would  at  least  contain  this  truth,  that  in 
ontogenesis,  too,  the  progress  is  from  the  foundation  of  instincts 
upward. 

What  were  the  conditions  under  which  primitive  man  first  began 
to  control  his  conduct  by  thought  ?  As  long  as  his  habitual  methods 
(the  standpoint  is  that  the  instincts  at  first  alone  determined  the 
habits)  of  meeting  his  needs  were  adequate,  there  was  no  occasion 
for  thought.     Habit  would  carry  him  on  smoothly  and  safely.    But 


PLACE   OF   ATTENTION   IN    PRIMITIVE    CEREMONY  39 

when  the  crisis  came,  when  he  had  to  meet  a  difficuU  situation, 
then  the  question  of  control  became  of  first  importance. 

How  or  when  we  do  not  know,  but  out  of  some  conflict  between 
instinct  on  the  one  hand  and  crisis  on  the  other,  attention  was  born. 
It  became  the  organ  of  accommodation  which  manipulates  the  out- 
side world.  The  problem  of  mental  development  from  the  lowest 
to  the  present-day  highest  stage  of  culture  thus  has  been  that  of 
getting  adequate  attention.  "Language,  reflection,  discussion,  logical 
analysis,  abstraction,  mechanical  invention,  magic,  religion,  and 
science"  have  all  "developed  in  the  eflfort  of  the  attention  to  meet 
difficult  situations  through  a  readjustment  of  habit."'' 

The  ritualistic  attitude,  to  judge  from  its  general  prevalence  at 
the  dawn  of  historic  time,  as  well  as  from  its  universal  prevalence  , 
among  contemporary  savages,  appeared  very  early.     It  was  natural  '. 
that    it    should.      Ritualism    represents    cr}'Stallized    group    habits. 
Human  nature  has  always  been  prone  to  fall  back  upon  the  habitual  \ 
mode  of  reacting,  and  to  think  only  when  occasion  calls  for  thought. 
No  stage  of  culture  affords  a  better  example  of  this  than  the  lowest  | 
known  stage  today.     The  Bushman  is  perfectly  contented  when  he  ' 
has  enough  to  eat  and  a  pipe  to  smoke.    "Besitz  macht  ihm  Sorge,  ' 
und  er  ist  darin  der  wahre  Philosoph.  omnia  sua  seciim  portans.'"^ 
As  long  as  there  is  something  left  to  eat  h.e  feels  no  need  of  going 
out  to  hunt.     In  fact,  he  at  times  goes  hungry,  drawing  a  strap 
tighter  and  tighter  about  his  stomach."     But  when  he  finally  ven- 
tures forth,  it  is  under  the  protection  of  magic.    Right-angled  stripes 
one  centimeter  broad  and  two  centimeters  long  are  tattooed  on  the 
arm  above   the   elbow.     They   insure   a   good   eye   when   shooting. 
These  stripes  are  well  rubbed  witli  a  special  charm  made  by  pul- 
verizing a  charred  piece  of  the  heart  and  of  the  left  ear  of  the  kind 
of  animal  he  is  going  to  hunt.     The  animal — giraffe,  for  instance — 
will  then  be  unable  to  hear  him  as  he  steals  u])  through  the  grass 
and  brush. ^ 

The  point  I  wish  to  emphasize  is  that  many  of  the  specific  types 
of  reaction  that  later  become  crystallized  into  ceremonies  or  rites 
had  their  origin,  logically  and  psychologically  speaking,  in  a  prob- 

*  William  I.  Thomas,  Source  Book  for  Social  Origins  (Chicago,  1909).  p.  17. 
'  Gustav  Fritsch,   Die  Eiiigeboreiiett  Sihi-Afrikas   (Breslau,    1872),  p.   419. 

'  Ibid.,  p.  427. 

*  S.    Passarge,  Die   Bnschmiinucr  der   Kalahari    (Berlin,    1907),   pp.    108   f. 


40  THE   PSYCHOLOGY  OF   RITUALISM 

jlematic  situation.  Now  there  are  two  ways  of  bringing  this  about. 
The  first  is  through  trial  and  error  without  even  the  crudest  thought. 
I  The  second  is  where  voluntary  attention  becomes  the  organ  for 
'manipulating  the  outside  world,  or  in  other  words,  where  thought 
enters  in  and  helps  in  bringing  about  an  adjustment.  While  it  may 
be  possible  to  find  ceremonies  which  appear  to  bear  no  trace  of 
the  human  mind,  many  of  them  are  indicative  of  the  power  of 
abstraction,  and  that  is  a  thought  process.  There  is  the  great  dan- 
ger here  of  falling  into  the  error  of  the  particularistic  method — 

[  of  "overlooking  the  fact  that  the  mind  employs  j  the  principle  of 

/    abstraction."^ 

By  thought  in  this  connection  we  do  not  mean  to  imply  a  highly 
rationalized  procedure.  The  savage  has  not  acquired  the  elaborate 
technique  of  scientific  method.  We  do  not  find  that  in  the  compara- 
tively high  civilizations  of  ancient  Egypt  and  Mesopotamia.  Scien- 
tific method  is  a  gradual  development  out  of  an  attempt  at  adequate 
theory.  As  long  as  immediate  practical  interests  are  at  stake  theory 
is  neglected.  This  does  not  imply,  however,  that  a  real  thought 
process  is  lacking.  iThought,  like  many  other  aspects  of  human  life, 
has  passed  through  a  process  of  development,  the  nature  of  which 
\  we  can  understand  in  part  by  observing  its  progress  in  ontogenesis. 
Abstraction  in  its  simplest  form  is  the  isolating  of  a  single  content, 
element,  or  relation  without  getting  its  connections.  This  particular 
phase  of  experience  is  then  frequently  related  to  some  practical 
interest  and  thus  becomes  a  factor  in  the  control  of  activity.  A 
concrete  example  from  the  life  of  the  Chinese  taken  from  personal 
observation  will  serve  as  illustration.  They  select  the  terrifying 
aspect  of  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  and  relate  it  at  once  to  great  disaster 
to  themselves.  This  view  of  the  situation  results  in  two  further 
!  steps.  First,  the  cause  of  the  phenomenon  is  explained  as  an 
attempt  of  the  dragon  to  swallow  the  sun.  In  the  second  place, 
an  effort  is  made  to  control  the  situation.  The  method  employed 
is  the  vigorous  beating  of  gongs  of  all  sizes  to  attract  the  atten- 
tion of  the  dragon  and  influence  it  to  spit  out  the  sun.  Processes 
such  as  these  represent  the  beginning  of  reflection ;  the  elaborate 
scientific  method  of  the  modern  period,  its  goal. 

In  any  organized  system  of  habits  qua  organized  there  is  no 

r  ■ 

I  •William  I.  Thomas,  Source  Book  for  Social  Origins,  p.  24. 


PLACE  OF  ATTENTION   IN    PRIMITIVE   CEREMONY  41 

dualism  of  self  and  world."     Many  ceremonies  imply   the  actual 
emergence  of  a  duality.     The  reasoning  back  of  the  ceremony  may 
be  very  naive,  but  it  is  nevertheless  thought.    The  piacular  sacrifice 
is  manifestly  an  example.     This  sacrifice  by  very  definition  impliesi 
a  situation  of  stress,  strain,  and  sometimes  of  interrupted  relation! 
between  the  worshiper  and  the  higher  power  or  ancestor.     If  the) 
sacrifice  should  be  referred  back  to  the  time  when  the  oft'erin<r  was 
a  common  meal,  the  objection  would  be  justified  that  this   last- 
named  sacrifice  is  really  not  the  same  as  the  piacular  sacrifice ;  and 
on  the  ground  that,  though  it  is  a  development  out  of  the  primitive 
common  meal,  the  underlying  idea  now  is  radically  dift'erent.     The 
piacular  sacrifice  is  definitely  a  sin  offering,  while  the  other  is  a 
common   meal.      But   the   same   point   holds   good    equally    in    the 
instance  of  the  common  meal,  for  this  was  always  an  occasion  on 
which  the  relation  of  the  group,  and  hence  also  of  the  individuals  / 
of  the  group,  to  the  totem  was  much  in  evidence.  I 

By  crises,  in  this  connection,  I  mean  any  incident  which  comes  1 
sufficiently   into  conflict   with   the   run   of   habit   to   call    forth    the^ 
attention.    It  need  not  always  be  something  as  terrifying  as  impend- 
ing doom.     The  fear  of  starvation  lies  at  the  heart  of  certain  cere- ' 
monies.     Especially  »is  this  true  in  districts  where  food  is  periodi- 
cally hard  to  procure.     But  there  are  vast  areas   in   the   tropics  \ 
where  people  never  experience  this  "great  fear."   ■  Fruit  is  always 
plentiful,   and   game   is   at   hand   in   great   numbers   and    is   easily 
procurable.     Under  such  circumstances,  the  organized  system  of 
habit  easily  fills  the  food  bill.     No  ritual  will  ordinarily  arise  here 
except  when  some  mystery  or  difficulty   interrupts.     As  soon  as 
man  begins  definitely  to  cultivate  grain  himself,  then  sowing,  plant- 
ing,  and   reaping   ceremonies   may   appear.'^      In   connection    with 
the   hunt  they   may   also   be   considered   necessary.      Rirth,   death.T 
and  adolescence  are  universal  phenomena.     Both   in   low  and   in 
high  stages  of  culture  they  represent  crises.     In  the  former  they 
almost  invariably  are  the  occasion  of  rites.     Exhaustion  of  game, 
defeat  in  battle,  floods,  drought,   pestilence,   famine,  birth,  death, 
adolescence,  marriage;  sowing,   planting,    reaping,   migration   from 
one  place  to  another,  building  of  houses,  are  all  examples  of  crises.' 

^''John  Dewey,  "The  Control  of  Ideas  by  Facts"  (II),  Journal  of  Philosophy, 
Psychology,  and  Scientific  Method,  IV,  254. 

"Walter  William   Skeat,  Malay  Magic,  pp.   217   f. 


!    I 


42  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   RITUALISM 

/  Anything  that  draws  out  the  attention  and  thus  demands  adjust- 
'  ment  and  manipulation  may,  and  usually  does,  stimulate  thought. 
All  of  the  above  mentioned  and  many  others  are  represented  in 
primitive   ritualism.      In   fact,   we  are   told   that   among  primitive 
peoples    every    act    of    life   has    become    the    object    of    ritualistic 
observances.      If   this    is   universally   true,    it   would    simply    indi- 
cate that  in  the  course  of  time  any  habit  is  likely  to  be  interrupted. 
Attention,  in  the  sense  in  which  it  is  here  used,  is  primarily  a 
matter  of  individual  initiative.     The  group  may  create  a  positive 
environment  and  eliminate  certain  factors  from  the  sphere  of  con- 
trol.    It  thus  is  par  excellence  the  realm  of  suggestion.     Almost 
/  j  invariably,   however,   it   is   some   individual   or  individuals   of   the 
I   j  group  that  pass  beyond  the  mere  instinctive  or  habitual,  and  bring 
i.  :  about  a  satisfactory  adjustment  at  the  time  of  the  crisis,  or  lead 
V  the  group  through  the  problematic  situation.     It  takes  thought  to 
accomplish  this.    Considering  the  group  as  a  whole,  there  is  lack  of 
prevision,   for  attention  is  primarily  a  manifestation  of  the  indi- 
vidual.    What  prevision  there  is,  is  present  in  the  consciousness  of 
the   individuals   who  originate  and  emphasize   particular   types  of 
reaction   that,   because   they   are   successful   and   appropriate,   are 
taken  up  by  the  group.     The  recognition  of  this   fact  is  of  con- 
siderable importance.    Is  it  not  likely,  for  instance,  that  the  Quabara 
(sacred  ceremonies)    owned  by  individuals  among  the   Blacks   of 
(^entral  Australia  have  had  their  origin  in  just  this  way? 

LThen  there  is  the  question  of  magic.     Does  the  magical  cere- 
ony  give  evidence  of  the  power  of  abstraction,  or  not?     Magic, 
/.writes  Professor  Thomas,  is  "primitive  philosophy."^-    The  reason- 
ling  is,  of  course,  unscientific.     Scientific  reasoning  and  accurate 
logical  technique  are,  as  we  have  seen,  a  comparatively  modern 
product    and    occur    only    in    relatively    high    stages    of    culture. 
Even  there,  they  are  not  always  able  to  hold  their  own.     Primitive 
man    believes    "that    objects    in    juxtaposition,    in    an    order    of 
sequence,  or  having  points  of  resemblance  have  also  causal  con- 
nection."    This  way  of  interpreting  cause  and  effect  gives  rise  to 
two  more  or  less  distinct  and  yet  overlapping  types  of  magic,  viz., 
.sympathetic  and  symbolic.     My  position  on  this  point  is  that  magic 
;,  is  a  thought  product — crude,  it  is  true,  but  nevertheless  thought.^" 
is,       Y' Source  Book  for  Social  Origins,  p.  y:^^. 

I  "  I  do  not  mean  to  imply  that  there  may  not  be,  as-Professor  King  assertSj^ 
the  underlying   content    of   more   or   less   impulsive   action   of    the   psychophysical 


PLACE  OF  ATTENTION   IN    PRIMITIVE   CEREMONY  43 

One  or  the  other  of  these  types  of  magic  is  very  frecjuently  present 
in  the  primitive  ceremony,  and  often  both.  In 'sympathetic  magic 
the  underlying  principle  is  "that  objects  which  were  once  related 
to  one  another  retain  their  connection  though  they  may  be  sepa-'^ 
rated,  and  whatever  may  happen  to  one  part  or  object  the  other 
part  or  object  is  similarly  affected."'^  Thus  in  the  Malay  peninsulaj 
a  ceremonial  way  of  killing  an  enemy  is  to  take  parings  of  nails, 
hair,  eyebrows,  saliva,  or  any  other  part  of  the  intended  victim, 
and  to  make  them  up  into  his  likeness  with  wax  from  a  deserted 
bees'  comb.  This  figure  is  then  slowly  scorched  by  holding  it  over 
a  lamp  every  night  for  seven  nights  and  saying:  "It  is  not  wax 
that  I  am  scorching ;  it  is  the  liver,  heart,  and  spleen  of  So-and-so 
that  1  scorch. "^"^  After  the  seventh  time,  the  figure  is  burnt  and 
the  victim  will  die. 

In  symbolic  magic,  the  reasoning  is  that  resembling  things 
influence  each  other.  A  result  can  be  attained  by  reproducing  as 
nearly  as  possible  the  thing  desired.  How  this  becomes  the  occa- 
sion for  thought  is  obvious  from  the  rain  ceremony  in  Murray 
Island,  Torres  Straits,  of  which  Professor  Haddon  gives  the  fol- 
lowing description  i^** 

The  rain-maker  scooped  a  hole  in  the  ground,  and  lined  it  with  leaves 
and  placed  in  it  a  rude  stone  image  of  a  man  which  had  previously  been 
anointed  with  oil  and  rubbed  with  scented  grass :  then  he  poured  the  decoc- 
tion of  minced  leaves  of  various  plants  mi.xcd  with  water  over  the  image — 
the  image  being  so  laid  in  the  hole  as  to  point  to  the  quarter  from  which 
rain  was  expected.  Earth  was  heaped  over  the  image  and  leaves  and  shells 
placed  on  the  mound,  and  all  the  while  he  muttered  an  incaniation  in  a  low 
sepulchral  tone.  Four  large  screens  composed  of  plaited  coco-nut  leaves 
were  placed  at  the  head,  foot,  and  sides  of  the  grave  to  represent  clouds; 
on   the  upper  part  of  each   was   fastened  a   i)Iackened  oblong  of   vegetable 

organism.  But  it  is  a  far  call  from  the  automatic  to  magic.  The  act  does  not 
became  magical  until  there  is  a  consciousness  of  meaning  present.  And  con-, 
sciousness  of  meaning  implies  reflection.  It  is,  of  course,  possible,  and  doubt-l 
less  frequently  happens,  that  magic  is  used  without  reflection,  simply  because 
that  is  the  customary  process.  But  that  is  entirely  ditTerent  from  saying  that 
magic  qua  magic  arose  apart  from  thought.  Magic  minus  teleology  may  be 
instinct  or  automaton,  but  it  does  not  deserve  the  name  of  magic.  {Vide  King, 
The  Development  of  Religion,  pp.   179   ff.) 

^Alfred  C.  Haddon,  Magic  and  Fetishism   (Chicago),  pp.  2  f. 
"  Vide  Malay  Magic,  p.  570. 
"Haddon,  Magic  am!  Fetishism,  pp.    16   f. 


44  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RITUALISM 

cloth  to  mimic  a  black  thunder-cloud,  and  coco-nut  leaves,  with  their  leaflets 
pointing  downward,  were  suspended  close  by  to  represent  rain.  A  torch 
was  ignited  and  waved  lengthwise  over  the  grave ;  the  smoke  represented 
clouds  and  the  flame  mimicked  lightning,  and  a  bamboo  clapper  was  sounded 
to  imitate  thunder. 

That  such  a  ceremony  represents  thought  appears  indisputable. 
How  such  a  complicated,  rationally  concatenated  series  of  acts 
could  originate  by  a  mere  trial  and  error  method  is  inconceivable. 
For  reasons  which  I  shall  give  farther  on.  I  venture  to  suggest 
that  the  view  of  symbolic  magic  represented  by  Frazer  and  Haddon 
fails  to  emphasize  sufficiently  one  point.  Primitive  man  has  not 
reached  the  stage  of  mental  development  which  distinguishes 
sharply  between  social  objects  and  physical  objects.  For  him, 
the  thing  that  he  is  influencing  is  a  social  object  which  is  influ- 
enced in  much  the  same  way  as  his  fellow-men  are.^"^  Primitive 
man  knows  no  other  way.  If  the  power  cannot  be  influenced  by 
language  or  pantomimicry.  primitive  man  has  no  means  at  hand. 
Thus,  when  a  Kaffir  village  headed  by  its  medicine-man  rushes 
to  the  nearest  hill  and  tries  to  divert  a  hurricane  from  its  course 
by  yelling  at  it  to  get  out  of  the  way,  we  have  language  as  the 
influencing  medium,^*  and  when  the  Indian  rain-maker  reproduces 
rain  in  a  symbolic  fashion  we  have  pantomimicry  as  the  medium. 
Both  represent  a  thought  situation,  but  not  as  closely  akin  to 
natural  science  as  Frazer  implies  in  the  Golden  Bough}^ 

\  At  this  juncture  it  is  obvious  that  the  situation  of  stress,  strain, 
and  conflict  is  the  occasion  for  the  reworking  of  instinct  and  im- 

■j  pulses  into  a   specific    type    of    control.     The   incident   or   crisis, 

I  thus,  is  the  matrix  out  of  which  the  specific  overt  reaction  is 
born,  which  later  appears  in  the  ceremony.  This  point  should  be 
borne   in   mind.      The   reaction   is   not   a   ceremony    when    it   first 

j  appears.     It  is  merely  a  method  of  meeting  a  particular  situation. 

1  In   the   majority   of    instances    the   originator    of    the   act   has    no 

"  The  clippingsr  of  hair,  parings  of  nails,  etc.,  mixed  with  wax  in  making  an 
effigy  are  thought  to  convey  the  soul  of  the  individual  of  whom  they  originally 
were  a  part.  Wundt  calls  them  "Seelentrager"  {Volkerpsychologie,  Zweiter  Band, 
Zweiter  Teil,  S.  336).  The  effigy  forthwith  becomes  a  social  object  in  most  inti- 
mate relation  with  the  party  to  be  injured. 

"R.  R.  Marett,  "Pre-animistic  Religion,"  Folk-Lore,  XI.   171. 

"J.  G.  Frazer,   The  Golden  Bough.   2d  ed.    (London,    1900),   I,   9-74. 


PLACE   OF   ATTENTION    IN    PRIMITIVE    CEREMONY  45 

intention  of  its  ever  becoming  a  ceremony,  or  part  thereof.-"  If 
the  particular  reaction  is  not  repeated  until  it  becomes  a  group 
custom,  it  never  eventuates  in  a  ceremony.  Nor  does  it  become 
a  ceremony  as  long  as  it  is  merely  the  act  (though  repeated)  of 
one  individual.  It  must  become  a  group  custom,  that  is  to  say, 
must  be  performed  by  the  group,  or  with  the  approval  of  the 
group,  or  in  the  way  in  which  the  members  of  the  group  act.  The 
way  it  becomes  this  is  through  suggestion  and  the  law  of  habit. 
The  act  which  is  successful  or  accompanies  a  successful  act  is 
repeated  by  the  members  of  the  group.  Each  repetition,  from  a 
physiological  point  of  view^  deepens  the  new  pathway  of  dis- 
charge formed  in  the  brain  of  the  individuals  by  the  first  perform- 
ance of  the  act.  When  the  pathway  is  once  well  opened,  incoming 
currents  from  stimulation,  similar  to  that  preceding  the  first  act, 
ever  after  tend  to  traverse  the  same  pathway.  When  once  the 
reaction  has  become  a  group  habit  among  primitive  peoples,  it  ipso 
facto  is  ritualized. 

Since  it  is  out  of  a  crisis  that  this  reaction  is  born,  the  situation 
is  chiefly  emotional.  Thought  enters  in  only  in  so  far  as  habit 
fails  to  mediate  control.  It  should  not  be  considered  remark- 
able that  this  is  the  only  place  reflection  holds  in  the  ceremony, 
for  it  takes  no  more  important  place  anywhere  else.  The  end 
sought  in  the  ceremony  is  control.  Attention  is  the  organ  of 
manipulation.  The  accompanying  affective  current  appears  as 
emotion  when  there  is  a  checking,  and  an  interest  when  it  runs 
smoothly. 

^  The  careful  deliberation  of  the  old  men  among  the  Australians  as  to  each 
step   of   the   initiation   ceremonies    is    one    of   the   exceptions.      It   shows   that   in  ' 
some   instances  the  development  of  the  ceremony   is  due  to   deliberate  planning 
for  the  introduction  of  more  satisfactory  control  into  the  ceremonies. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURALISM  IN  THE  RITUAL  ^ 

Up  to  the  present  we  have  shown  that  the  content  of  the  cere- 
monyt consists  of  a  combination  of  elements:  (i)  such  as  result 
from  the  normal  functioning  of  primitive  man's  instinctive  and 
(impulsive  activity  in  meeting  his  practical  needs;  (2)  elements 
introduced  through  the  trial  and  error  method;  (3)  the  product 
of  thought  when  instinct  or  habit  meets  a  crisis.  One  very  im- 
portant part  of  the  ceremony,  however,  which,  as  we  shall  see, 
properly  falls  under  (i),  remains  unexplained.  Abundant  refer- 
ence has  been  made  to  it,  but  no  explanation  offered.  I  refer 
to  the  personified  nature  powers,  the  manes,  the  spirits  good  and 
evil,  the  preternatural  and  supernatural  powers  that  take  such  a 
prominent  part  in  the  make-up  of  the  social  consciousness  of  the 
savage.  Without  these  powers,  most,  if  not  all,  of  primitive  man's 
ceremonies  would  drop  away.  Our  problem  in  this  chapter  is  to 
explain  this  phase  of  the  social  consciousness  of  primitive  man, 
and  its  relation  to  the  ceremony. 

/  Many  descriptions  of  the  primitive  social  consciousness  have 
been  given,  but  most  of  them  from  the  wrong  point  of  view.  As 
i>this  is  an  attempt  to  give  the  psychology  of  ritualism,  I  shall  first 
ipoint  out  what  I  believe  to  be  faulty  psychology  on  this  point.  Both 
Jevons  and  Menzies  agree  that  the  savage  regards  all  things  "as  ani- 
mated with  a  life  like  his  own.'"-  It  is  to  the  "like  his  own"  that 
critical  attention  should  be  directed.  My  thesis  on  this  point  is  that, 
though  aboriginal  man  regards  nature  as  animated,  it  is  not  with 
a  life  "like  his  own."  He  has  not  reached  the  stage  where  he 
has  made  a  reflective  study  of  his  own  life,  will,  personality,  or 
spirit ;  and   until   that   study — naive   though   it  may  be — has  been 

^  The  distinction  between  natural  and  supernatural  is  not  made  by  primitive 
man.     It  is  a  comparatively  late  product. 

^  "The  savage  regards  all  things  as  animated — as  animated  with  a  life  like 
his  own." — Allan  Menzies,  History  of  Religion   (New  York,   1906),  p.   21. 

"The  savage  imagines  that  even  lifeless  things  are  animated  by  a  will,  a 
personality,  a  spirit  like  his  own." — Frank  Byron  Jevons,  An  Introduction  to  the 
History  of  Religion  (London,  1904),  p.  11. 

46 


PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SUPERNATURALISM    IN    THE    RITUAL  47 

made,  he  is  not  in  a  position  to  attribute  these  to  objects   round 
about  him. 

The  popular  idea  that  man's  consciousness  of  himself  is  imme- 
diate, primitive,  and  alone  by  itself,  while  his  social  consciousness  , 
is  gradually  acquired  apart   from  the  former  through   intercourse 
with  other  selves,  and  is  thus  secondary,  is  based  on   false  psy- j 
chology.''     Anyone  who  will  take  the  time  to  make  a  table  of  in-] 
stincts  will  easily  see  that  a  number  of  them  are  dehnitely  social,/ 
McDougall  in  his  ln-rrodHction  to  Social  Psycholoc/y  gives  eleven/ 
viz.,    flight,    repulsion.    curiosii\ ,    i>ugnacity,    self-abasement,    self-* 
assertion,    parental    instinct,    instinct    of    reproduction,    gregarious, 
instinct,  instinct  of  acquisition,  and  instinct  of  construction.*     All' 
these  have  social  implications,  while  such  as  pugnacity   reproduction, 
the  gregarious  instinct,  are  social  only.     This,  if  interpreted  cor- 
rectly,   indicates    "the    implicit    presence    in    undeveloped    humanj  , 
consciousness  of  both  the  matter  and  the  form  of  a  social  object."^' 

If  we  approach  the  study  of  primitive  man's  social  conscious- 
ness from  this  direction,  the  conclusion  is  that  the  social  conscious-  j 
ness  is  prior  to  the  consciousness  of  self.  That  is  to  say,  that  ' 
primitive  man  does  not  first  have  a  definite  idea  of  his  own  life, 
will,  or  personality  and  then  posit  these  in  other  objects.  Primi- 
tive man's  idea  of  himself  grows  out  of  his  relation  to  his  sur- 
roundings, and  especially  out  of  his  relation  to  his  fellows. 

What  is  more,  if  it  is  once  granted  that  among  the  instincts^ 
and  impulses  the  social  ones  predominate,  then  it  is  also  apparent 
that  the  normal  functioning  of  his  capacities  is  in  the  direction 
of  progressively  recognizing  and  creating  social  objects.  Their 
number  and  character  depend  on  the  one  hand  on  man's  environ-; 
ment,  and  on  the  other  on  his  ability  to  abstract  certain  objects  as; 
purely  physical.  At  first,  however,  primitive  man  has  not  acquired 
the  ability  to  concentrate  his  attention  on  a  particular  object  in 
such  a  way  as  to  consider  it  physical  no  matter  what  happens.  The 
only  distinction  he  soon  seems  able  to  draw  in  the  vast  number  of 

^  Vide  Josiah  Royce.  Studies  of  Good  and  Evil  (New  York,  1898),  chap, 
viii ;  James  Mark  Baldwin,  Mental  Development  iti  the  Child  and  the  Race  (New 
York,  1895)  ;  Baldwin,  Social  and  Ethical  Interpretation  in  Mental  Develop- 
ment (New  York,  1902),  pp.  13  f. 

'^iJwilliam  McDougall,  Social  Psychology  (Boston,  1909),  pp.  45-89. 

"George  H.  Mead,  "Social  Psychology  as  Counterpart  to  Physiological  Psy- 
chology," P.$yc/io/ogica/  Bulletin,  VI   (No.   12),  404. 


48  THE   PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RITUALISM 

objects  which  are  physical  from  the  scientific  standpoint  is  between 
the  normal  and  the  accidental  or  unusual.  Thus  the  Pygmy  con- 
siders his  knife  as  commonplace  so  long  as  it  serves  him  at  his 
regular  task,  but  when  it  slips  and  cuts  his  finger,  there  is  oudah  in 
the  "cussed"  thing/^  It  forthwith  becomes  a  social  object  to  him. 
The  Babylonians  went  even  farther,  for  they  thought  they  were 
surrounded  by  living  powers,  each  of  which  was  considered  a  si 
or  spirit.  A  si  was  not  a  spirit  in  the  sense  in  which  that  term  is 
ordinarily  used.  "The  si  was  simply  that  which  manifested  life, 
and  the  test  of  the  manifestation  of  life  was  movement.""  In  this 
instance  everything  that  moved  became  a  social  object. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  in  the  preanimistic  stage  (using 
animism  in  Tylor's  sense  of  separable  spiritual  beings),  not  only 
the  moving  object  that  arrests  the  attention  of  the  savage  is  per- 
sonified, but  anything  unusual  in  shape,  size,  position,  or  color  is 
regarded  as  living.     IMarett  finds  the  following  to  be  true: 

A  solitary  pillar  of  rock,  a  crumpled  volcanic  boulder,  a  meteorite,  a 
pebble  resembling  a  pig,  a  yam,  or  an  arrowhead,  a  piece  of  shining  quartz, 
these  and  such  as  these  are  almost  certain  to  be  invested  with  the  vague 
but  dreadful  attributes  of  Powers.  Nor,  although  to  us  nothing  appears  so 
utterly  inanimate  as  a  stone,  is  savage  animatism  in  the  least  afraid  to 
regard  it  alive.  Thus  the  Kanakas  differentiate  their  sacred  stones  into 
males  and  females,  and  firmly  believe  that  from  time  to  time  little  stones 
appear  at  the  side  of  the  parent  blocks.* 

This  is  the  period  called  by  Marett  Animatism,  and  by  Clodd 
Naturalism.'' 

The  distinction  made  between  the  usual  and  the  unusual,  and 
the  personification  of  the  striking  phenomena  are  already  found  in 
the  animal  world.     Clodd  cites  an  instance  from  Romanes : 

A  skye-terrier  ....  used  to  play  with  dry  bones  by  tossing  them  in  the 
air,  throwing  them  to  a  distance,  and  generally  giving  them  the  appearance 
of  animation,  in  order  to  give  himself  the  ideal  pleasure  of  worrying  them. 
On  one  occasion  I  tied  a  long  and  fine  thread  to  a  dry  bone  and  gave  him 

°  R.  R.  Marett,  "Is  Taboo  a  Negative  Magic?"  Anthropological  Essays  (pre- 
sented to  Edward  Burnett  Tylor)    (Oxford,  1907),  p.  230. 

^  Archibald  Henry  Sayce,  Lectures  on  the  Origin  and  Growth  of  Religion  as 
Illustrated  by  the  Religion  of  the  Ancient  Babylonians  (London,  1891)  (Hibbert 
Lectures,  1887),  p.  328. 

*R.  R.  Marett,  "Preanimistic  Religion,"  Folk-Lore,  XI,   174. 

'Edward  Clodd,  Animism  (Chicago),  p.  22. 


PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SUPERNATURALISM    IN    THE    RITUAL  49 

the  latter  to  play  with.  After  he  had  tossed  it  about  for  a  short  time,  I 
took  the  opportunity,  when  it  had  fallen  at  a  distance  from  him  and  while 
he  was  following  it  up,  of  gently  drawing  it  away  from  him  by  means  of 
the  long,  invisible  thread.  Instantly  his  whole  demeanor  changed.  The 
bone,  which  he  had  previously  pretended  to  be  alive,  began  to  look  as  if  it 
were  really  alive,  and  his  astonishment  knew  no  bounds.  He  first  approached 
it  with  nervous  caution,  but,  as  the  slow  receding  movement  continued  and 
he  became  quite  certain  that  the  movement  could  not  be  accounted  for  by 
any  residuum  of  force  which  he  had  himself  communicated,  his  astonish- 
ment developed  into  dread  and  he  ran  to  conceal  himself  under  some 
articles  of  furniture." 

The  naive  situation  of  regarding  the  inanimate  objects  as  aHve 
is  also  exempHfied  by  the  way  little  children  regard  their  dolls.  In 
the  primitive  ceremony  this  attitude  comes  to  the  surface  where- 
ever  the  object  itself  is  viewed  as  though  it  were  living  and  as 
though  it  could  be  influenced  without  any  ft^rther  mediation.  Th$ 
Intichiuma  ceremony  cited  in  the  first  f^gter  is  obviously  a  case 
in  point.  The  Hakea  tree  is  here  addressed  directly  as  though  it' 
were  a  person.     Indeed,  for  the  black  Australians  it  is  a  person.     I 

But  this  first  naive  way  of  regarding  objects  as  living  beings  is 
superseded  by  animism  proper.  The  notion  of  separable  spirits 
grows  up,  according  to  which  any  object  whatsoever  may  become 
the  habitat  of  a  spirit.  The  notion  of  the  separable  spirit  may  have 
originated  in  a  number  of  different  ways.  Wundt  has  given  one 
source  when  he  says,  "Das  Bild.  das  der  Naturmensch  im  Traume 
sieht,  ist  ihm  unmittelbare  Wirklichkeit.""  In  the  mental  con- 
struction of  his  world,  early  man  makes  no  discrimination  between 
dreams,  hallucinations,  and  normal  perceptions.  The  very  life 
which  the  savage  lives,  as  well  as  his  lack  of  logical  interpreta- 
tion of  normal  perceptions,  tends  to  increase  the  number  of  sensory 
and  motor  automatisms.  Hunger  and  repletion  excite  remarkably, 
vivid  dreams.  "After  a  bootless  chase  and  a  long  fast  he  lies  down 
exhausted ;  and  while  slumbering,  goes  through  a  successful  hunt — 
kills,  skins,  and  cooks  his  prey  and  suddenly  wakes  when  about  to 
taste  his  first  morsel."^-  Or  having  gorged  himself  with  food,  and 
lying  in  a  nightmare,  he  fancies  himself  run  down  by  a  lion  and 

"7&irf.,  pp.  22  f. 

"William    Wundt,    Volkerpsychologie,   Zweiter    Band:      "Mythus    und    Reli- 
gion," Zweiter  Tail  (Leipzig,   1906),  p.  85. 

^Herbert  Spencer,  Principles  of  Sociology  (New  York,  1906),  I,  i3S- 


50  THE   PSYCHOLOGY  OF   RITUALISM 

wakes  with  a  start  to  find  himself  trembHng  with  fright.  Such 
experiences  Wundt  and  Spencer  agree  are  taken  at  face  value. 
Again,  the  savage  has  lost  some  relative,  or  perhaps  the  chief  of  the 
tribe  has  suddenly  died.  In  his  slumbers  he  sees  his  departed  wife 
in  his  lodge  with  him,  or  hears  his  chief  urge  his  braves  to  war. 
These  dreams  are  related  by  the  savage  not  as  things  which  he 
dreamed,  but  as  things  actually  seen.  Thus  one  strengthens  the  other 
in  the  belief  that  realities  are  seen  in  dreams.  What  holds  true 
with  reference  to  dreams  is  also  true  in  the  case  of  various  types 
of  sensory  automatisms.  Hallucinations,  trances,  and  other  mystical 
experiences  are  held  to  have  objective  value. 

It  is  out  of  the  firm  belief  in  such  experiences  that  the  doctrine 
of  the  separable  soul  has  probably  emerged.  The  sleeper  or  the 
man  having  the  mystical  experience  repeats  to  others  what  he  has 
seen  while  asleep  or  in  the  trance.  He  says  he  has  been  elsewhere : 
his  friends  say  he  has  not ;  and  he  verifies  their  testimony  by  finding 
himself  where  he  was  before  his  experience.  Or  the  sleeper  feels 
confident  that  he  has  seen  his  wife  working  about  the  lodge  as  he 
has  seen  her  so  often  before.  But  she  is  dead  and  buried.  The 
savage  does  not  believe  that  one  or  the  other  of  these  positions  is 
false.  He  accepts  ihem  both.  He  himself  has  a  double  existence. 
One  of  his  individualities  may  leave  the  other  and  come  back  again. 
His  wife  has  a  soul  which  survives  the  body  and  is  separable  from 
it,  and  on  occasion  may  be  seen. 

That  such  beliefs  are  actually  held  by  the  savages  can  be  shown 
by  material  gathered  from  nearly  all  quarters.  The  negro  of  West 
Africa  speaks  of  his  dream-soul.  "That  it  is  which  leaves  the  body 
on  occasions  during  sleep,  and,  wandering  ofif,  delights  itself  by 
visiting  strange  lands  and  strange  scenes."^"  "Among  the  Semi- 
noles  of  Florida,  when  a  woman  died  in  childbirth,  the  infant  was 
held  over  her  face  to  receive  her  parting  spirit,  and  thus  acquire 
strength  and  knowledge  for  its  future  use."^*  The  Amerinds  be- 
lieve that  "there  are  duplicate  souls,  one  of  which  remains  with 
the  body,  while  the  other  is  free  to  depart  on  excursions  during 
sleep."^^  The  Sandwich  Islanders  say  the  departed  member  of  a 
family  appears  to  the  survivors  sometimes  in  a  dream,  and  watches 
over  their  destinies.     Instances  similar  to  these  could  be  multiplied. 

^Robert  Hamill  Nassau,  Fetichism  in  West  Africa  (New  York,  1904),  p.  54. 

"Edward  B.  Tylor,  Primitive  Culture  (New   York,   1889),   I.  433- 

^^  Herbert  Spencer,  op.  cit.,  p.  137. 


PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SUPERNATURALISM    IN    THE    RITUAL  51 

The  idea  of  duplicate  souls — one  remaining  with  the  body  and  the 
other  free  to  roam  where  it  will — comes  to  expression  in  the  primi- 
tive belief,  on  the  one  hand,  of  the  soul  having  a  definite  seat  in 
some  definite  part  of  the  body — liver,  fat,  heart,  blood — and,  on  the 
other,  in  the  separable  soul  variously  called  "anima"  and  "umbra." 
That  the  "anima."  or  breath-soul,  is  capable  of  passing  from  one 
individual  to  another  is  a  firm  conviction  of  primitive  man.  The 
holding  of  the  child  of  the  dying  Seminole  woman  so  as  to  inhale 
the  escaping  spirit,  as  cited  alx)ve,  is  a  case  in  point.     \  i'  at 

the  death  of  an  ancient  Roman,  the  nearest  kinsman  leaned  over  the 
departing  relative  to  get  his  last  breath.  This  is  manifestly  one  of 
the  simplest  types  of  spirit  possession.  It  opens  avenues  for  a 
savage  world  philosophy.  The  thing  which  1  wish  to  emphasize 
is  that  it  is  a  product  of  the  social  consciousness.  The  "anima"  or 
"umbra"  is  always  an  alter,  sometimes  to  be  cherished  and  at  other 
times  to  be  avoided. 

This  alter  appears  in  multitudinous  ways  in  primitive  magic  and 
religion.  It  is  not  too  bold  to  assume  that  when  primitive  man  has 
once  attained  to  the  conception  of  separable  spirits  in  actual  com- 
munication with  himself  and  others,  souls  that  may  take  possession 
of  him  through  the  process  of  inhalation,  the  natural  tendency  is 
progressivly  to  assume  more,  and  the  occasions  on  which  spirit 
possession  is  considered  a  fact  tend  to  multiply.  It  is  not  here  con- 
tended that  sleep,  dreams,  death,  and  automatic  experiences  of 
various  kinds  are  the  only  source  of  the  belief  in  invisible  agency. 
They  manifestly  are  one  agency.  For  the  rest,  it  is  doubtless  true. 
as  Professor  Thomas  asserts,  thai  "a  mind  which  seeks  explanation 
of  mysteries  and  of  incidents  uncontrolled  by  human  agency  is 
forced  to  assume  the  presence  of  invisible  personal  agents  or 
spirits. "^'^  But  it  is  also  true  that  the  material  alluded  to  by 
Spencer,  Tylor,  and  Wundt  is  so  much  material  on  hand  on  which 
the  savage  probably  first  draws.  At  any  rate,  when  the  conception 
of  a  world  of  spirits  is  once  attained,  primitive  man  begins  to 
attribute  any  experience  out  of  the  ordinary  to  spirit  possession  or 
the  influence  of  a  spirit. 

For  instance,  what  we  call  a  nightmare  is  believed  to  be  a  visit 
from  an  evil  spirit  by  primitive  people.  "The  demon  Koin  strives 
to  throttle  the  dreaming  Australian ;  the  evil  'na'  crouches  on  the 
stomach  of  the  Karen :  the  North  American  Indian  gorged  with 

^'Thomas,  Source  Book  for  Social  Origins,  p.  733. 


52  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   RITUALISM 

feasting  is  visited  by  nocturnal  spirits;  the  Caribs  subject  to  hideous 
dreams,  often  wake  declaring  that  the  demon  Maboya  had  beaten 
them  in  their  sleep  and  they  could  still  feel  the  pain."^^  On  one  of 
my  numerous  trips  in  the  interior  of  China,  my  Chinese  cook  came 
to  me  one  morning  greatly  alarmed.  "There  was  a  demon  in  my 
bedroom  last  night,"  he  said.  "How  do  you  know?"  I  inquired. 
"It  was  in  my  sleep,"  he  said,  "that  I  felt  something  heavy  bearing 
down  on  my  chest.  I  was  unable  to  breathe  and  woke  up.  Finally, 
with  one  great  effort  I  pushed  it  from  me  and  lit  a  match ;  but  I 
could  see  nothing.  It  was  a  demon.  I  shall  never  sleep  in  that 
room  again." 

Automatic  speech,  automatic  deeds  of  extraordinary  strength  or 
skill,  uncontrollable  rage  in  battle,  epilepsy,  even  spasmodic  con- 
tractions and  contentless  trances  are  interpreted  as  spirit  possession 
by  the  savage.^*  The  presence  of  disquieting  dreams  during  times 
of  sickness,  as  well  as  the  unnatural  tossing  while  in  high  fever  and 
the  violence  of  insanity,  leads  to  an  association  of  the  disease  with 
evil  spirits.  Thus  disease  is  quite  generally  among  primitive  peoples 
attributed  to  possession  by  evil  spirits.  The  function  of  ritualism 
in  such  a  case  is,  of  course,  that  of  exorcism.  A  Chinese  friend 
has  written  me  as  follows  regarding  disease:  "It  is  generally 
believed  in  China  that  sickness  is  caused  by  the  evil  spirits  or 
demons.  In  such  a  case  Taoist  priests  use  charms  to  expel  the 
evil  spirit  from  the  person."  The  type  of  ceremony  varies,  but  the 
end  sought  is  the  same.  The  Malay  medicine-man  invokes  the 
Tiger  Spirit  to  assist  him  in  expelling  a  rival  spirit  of  less  power.^^ 
Among  the  Dakotas  "the  medicine-man's  cure  consists  in  reciting 
charms  over  the  patient,  singing  He-le-li-lah,  etc.,  to  the  accompani- 
ment of  a  gourd  rattle  with  beads  inside,  ceremonially  shooting  a 
symbolic  bark  representation  of  the  intruding  creature,  sucking  over 
the  seat  of  pain  to  get  the  spirit  out,  and  firing  guns  at  it  as  it  is 
supposed  to  be  escaping."-'' 

It  is  not  necessary  to  multiply  examples.  Enough  has  been 
said  to  make  it  obvious  that  animism  serves  to  explain  the  refer- 
ence to  spirits  in  ancestor  worship,  in  rites  designed  to  exorcise 

"Tylor,  op.  cit.,  II,   189. 

^  George    A.    Coe,    "Automatic    Factors    in    Religious    Experiences,"    art.    in 
Hastings'  Encyclopedia  of  Religion  and  Ethics  (New  York). 
"  Skeat,  Malay  Magic,  p.  436. 
=»Tylor,  op.  cit.,  II,  128  f. 


PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SUPERNATURALISM    IN    THE    RITUAL  53 

evil  spirits  and  influences,  and  in  ceremonies  devised  to  make 
medicine-men  by  bringing  them  into  direct  communication  with 
the  spirit  world.  Our  task  is,  however,  not  yet  completed.  While 
animatism  and  animism  serve  to  account  for  references  to  living 
objects  and  spirits,  they  do  not  cover  the  entire  range  of  higher 
powers.  How  are  we  to  account  for  the  passage  from  polydae- 
monism  to  polytheism  and  from  thence  to  monotheism?-'^  To  this 
question  we  may  give  the  general  answer,  that  the  passage  was 
probably  made  in  various  ways.  But  in  whatever  way  it  may  have 
come  about,  the  process  was  one  of  further  discrimination  within 
the  social  consciousness. 

In  the  case  of  the  Semites,  the  early  or  nomad  religion  gathered 
about  the  tribal  god.--  He  was  believed  to  be  the  ancestor  of 
the  clan  and  belonged  to  that  clan  alone.  There  were  as  many 
gods  of  this  type  as  there  were  clans.  The  god  made  the  wel- 
fare of  his  tribe  his  greatest  care  and  entered  into  all  tribal  enter- 
prises. The  tribal  wars  were  his  wars.  He  had  neither  help  nor 
sympathy  for  outsiders.  Parallel  with  this  belief  in  the  tribal 
god  and  his  worship,  subsisted  a  belief  in  animism  as  described 
above.  In  fact,  we  may  view^  the  whole  belief  as  animism  with 
one  particular  spiiit  elevated  to  the  rank  of  god  because  he  was 
thought  to  be  the  common  ancestor.  Jahwe,  who  w-as  probably  recog- 
nized by  the  Israelites  as  a  most  powerful  tribal  god,  became  their 
national  god  under  the  leadership  of  Moses.  There  was,  however, 
a  frank  recognition  of  other  gods.  Up  to  the  time  of  the  prophets 
the  Israelites  reached  nothing  higher  than  monolatry.  In  the  teach- 
ings of  the  prophets  Jahwe  was  socialized  to  the  extent  that  he 
became  the  god  of  all  men.  Moreover,  he  was  given  an  ethical  char- 
acter and  thus  ethical  monotheism  was  attained.  The  steps  from 
tribal  to  national  and  from  national  to  universal  religion,  or  from 
polydaemonism  to  monolatry  and  from  monolatry  to  monotheism 
were  possible  only  because  there  had  been  a  corresponding  change 
in  the  social  consciousness.  The  deity  reflects  the  social  and  politi- 
cal condition  of  his  people. 

Or  the  advance  from  polydaemonism  to  polytheism  may  have 
taken  place  by  the  way  of  fetishism.  In  its  simplest  form  the 
fetish  is  some  natural  object,  as  for  instance  a  stock  or  a  stone, 

^Vrde  Irving  King,  The  Development  of  Religion,  chap.  ix. 

^  Allan   Menzies,  History  of  Religion   (New  York,   1906),  p.    158. 


54  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   RITUALISM 

which  is  believed  to  be  the  habitat  of  some  spirit.  Not  infre- 
quently it  is  a  small  object  hung  about  the  neck.  From  this  stage 
advance  is  made  by  having  some  particular  object  consecrated  as 
a  fetish  by  the  magic  doctor,  to  whom  special  influence  over  the 
spirit  world  is  attributed.  The  purpose  in  all  this  is  to  secure  a 
definite  type  of  control  over  the  environment.  When  the  fetish 
ceases  to  bring  about  the  desired  result,  it  is  discarded.  By  some 
it  has  been  supposed  that  fetishism  is  peculiar  to  Africa  and  that 
there  it  is  the  result  of  religious  degeneration ;  but  it  may  be 
accepted  as  a  general  statement  that  wherever  animism  is  found, 
and  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  this  is  more  or  less  devel- 
oped among  all  primitive  peoples,  there  fetishism  in  some 
form  or  other  appears.  The  principle  of  fetishism  is  essentially 
that  of  idolatry,  that  is  to  say,  an  object  is  viewed  as  the  habitat 
of  a  spirit.  In  case  the  polydaemonistic  spirit  inhabiting  a  par- 
ticular object  proves  to  be  extraordinarily  efficacious  in  bringing 
about  results,  it  becomes  invested  with  great  prestige.  This  would 
be  especially  true  if  the  spirit  is  believed  to  be  that  of  a  great 
leader  or  of  a  common  ancestor.  Gradually  hallowed  by  custom, 
it  becomes  an  object  of  awe,  reverence,  and  worship — an  idol  rather 
than  a  fetish.  Objects  similar  to  the  one  inhabited  by  the  spirit 
are  made  and  the  influence  of  the  spirit  is  thought  to  extend 
to  these.  This  gives  full-fledged  idolatry.  By  almost  impercep- 
tible gradations  the  spirit  has  become  a  god.  Is  it  not  probable  that 
in  some  such  way  as  this  early  Buddhism — a  religion  without  a  god 
— gradually  developed  into  an  elaborate  system  of  idolatry  in  Japan 
and  China?  The  basis  on  which  any  such  development  could 
transpire  would  be  that  the  spirit  becomes  efficacious  in  the  realiza- 
tion of  group  values. 

Again,  it  is  quite  clear  that  certain  of  the  great  gods  have 
developed  out  of  primitive  man's  attitude  toward  the  heavenly 
bodies  and  the  phenomena  of  the  weather.  These  are  first  regarded 
as  living.  Each  gradually  acquires  a  character  of  its  own,  in 
accordance  with    the   value    it    represents    to    the  group.     Heaven 

\  becomes  a  father,  the  earth  the  corresponding  mother.  The  reason 
is  not  hard  to  surmise.  The  storm  is  a  god  and  the  dawn  a  god- 
dess. The  various,  thus  personified  nature  gods  are  surrounded 
with  myths  and  legends.  Each  is  confined  to  his  particular  sphere. 
Polytheism    is    the    result.     Henotheism    may    easily    follow  and 

,  finally  monotheism. 


PSYCHOLOGY    OF    SUPERNATURALISM    IN    THE    RITUAL  55 

It  is  not  our  purpose,  in  giving  the  above  description  of  the 
passage  from  polydaenionism  to  polytheism  and  from  there  on 
up  to  monotheism,  to  assert  that  these  are  the  only  ways  in  whicli 
this  could  take  place.  Nor  do  we  wish  to  maintain  that  any  one 
line  was  of  necessity  rigorously  carried  out.  I'herc  were  doubtless 
varying  circumstances.  Any  particular  transition  would  have  its 
own  peculiarities  and  its  own  character.  This  much  would,  how- 
ever, stand,  that  the  method  of  transition  was  concrete.  It  came 
out  of  man's  effort  to  meet  his  everyday  needs  and  should  not 
be  conceived  of  as  having  come  through  any  va,i,nic  sense  of  the 
infinite  or  of  a  mysterious  power. 

xA.nd  now  in  closing  this  chapter,  we  pass  once  more  to  the 
ceremony.  Instinctive  activity  is  man's  primitive  endowment  and 
determines  the  direction  of  his  efforts.  The  medium  in  which  this 
takes  place  is  the  social  group  to  which  he  belongs.  As  long 
as  instincts  function  smoothly  no  reorganization  of  conduct  is 
effected  except  through  chance  variation.  On  this  level  whatever, 
rituals  there  may  be  (I  have  been  unable  to  find  any)  bear  no  trace  ' 
of  thought.  When,  however,  a  problematic  situation  arises,  when  i 
the  crisis  comes,  and  attention  brings  about  a  reorganization  of 
conduct,  then  we  have  a  thought  process,  though  of  a  very  crude 
type.  The  content  of  the  new  reaction  is  determined  by  the  way 
in  which  attention  utilizes  the  native  endowment  of  instincts  and 
impulses,  the  social  consciousness,  and  past  experience  in  bring-  I 
ing  about  satisfactory  control.  There  is  no  other  material  at  hand 
that  can  be  utilized  by  the  savage.  In  case  of  disease,  for  instance, 
primitive  man  cannot  base  a  cure  upon  a  scientific  knowledge  of 
anatomy,  physiology,  and  materia  medica,  when  for  him  the  ailment 
is  due  to  possession  by  an  evil  spirit.  Me  naturally  resorts  to  some 
method  of  exorcism.  In  any  given  instance  the  fortunate  or 
satisfactory  reaction  is  repeated  when  a  similar  occasion  presents 
itself,  and  so  becomes  a  group  habit.  Hallowed  by  custom,  it 
becomes  the  prescribed  method  of  procedure  and  thereby  is 
ritualized. 

As   regards  the  development  of  old   rituals — cults   thoroughly 
habituated  and  hence  on  a  level  with  instinct  and  impulse — reor- 
ganization can  take  place  through  chance   variaticMi  or  through  a  , 
thought  process.     Our  present-day   rituals  are  the   result  of   long  j 
and   gradual   development.      The   i^rocess   has,   on    the   wh<ile,    not 


56  THE   PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RITUALISM 

been  that  of  conscious!}-  originating  ceremonies,  but  of  progres- 
sively meeting  the  returning  needs  of  life.  From  this  point  of 
/yiew,  ritualism  is  the  unconscious  product  of  man's  effort  to  meet 
his  needs  and  be  at  home  in  the  world.  It  is  a  part  of  the  organ- 
ized social  life  into  which  each  individual  is  born  and  to  which 
he  conforms  in  an  unconscious  way.  If  the  individual  becomes  really 
conscious  of  it,  it  is  usually  when  a  problematic  situation  arises. 
He  may  then  become  the  dynamic  center  of  another  reconstruction. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   RELATION   OF   THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE   RITUAL   TO 
CHANGES  WITHIN   THE   SOCIAL  CONSCIOUSNESS 

I 

If  our  description  of  the  ceremony  so  far  has  been  correct,  it 
follows  that  the  rituals  tend  to  develop  according  as  the  social  con- 
sciousness of  the  group  concerned  changes.  As  long  as  the  social 
consciousness  remains  fixed  upon  the  same  objects  in  the  same 
way,  there  is  like  permanence  in  the  ritualistic  observances.  I'.ut 
let  the  change  once  come,  and  old  habits  are  of  necessity  modified 
and  frequently  entirely  supplanted. 

There  are  evidently  a  number  of  situations  which  would  be  con- 
ducive to  profound  changes  in  the  social  consciousness.  All  would 
fall  under  the  head  of  crises  discussed  in  the  fourth  chapter. 
Whenever  there  is  a  transition  from  one  type  of  life  to  another, 
from  a  nomadic  to  an  agricultural,  for  instance,  or  from  a  tribal 
regime  to  a  national  government,  we  have  instances  of  a  corre- 
sponding change  in  the  social  consciousness.  There  is  a  reorgani- 
zation of  the  relation  of  the  members  of  the  group,  not  only 
to  one  another  and  to  other  groups,  but  also  to  the  spirits  and 
deities.  Some  of  the  latter  will  fall  into  the  background ;  others 
will  get  a  prominent  place  in  the  pantheon.  The  character  of  all 
is  likely  to  assume  a  different  aspect.  That  the  overt  expression 
in  rites  and  ceremonies  should  not  change  under  such  circum- 
stances is,  of  course,  inconceivable. 

Then,  we  have  the  typical  situation  of  tiie  great  man  in  the 
group.  A  Xenophanes,  a  Micah,  a  Gautama,  a  Jesus,  rises  up 
in  arms  against  current  conceptions  of  religion  and  morality.  He 
becomes  a  thought  stimulator,  a  leader  of  men.  He  creates  a  new 
type  of  social  consciousness.  Such  a  typical  thought  situation 
naturally  tends  to  dissolve  old  habits  and  ipso  facto  cannot  but 
more  or  less  profoundly  affect  the  ritual. 

In  the  third  place,  any  great  calamity  that  befalls  the  group 
will  bring  about  changes  in  its  social  consciousness.  The  same 
is  true  of  any  special  streak  of  good  fortune.  The  inefficient 
god   is   relegated   to  ignominy,   the   favorite   deity   is   extolled   and 

57 


58  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   RITUALISM 

made  the  center  of  elaborate  worship.  The  conquered  gods 
become  demons,  the  conquering  tribal  deity  becomes  a  national  god. 

In  the  fourth  place,  abstracting  certain  objects  from  the 
general  held  of  consciousness  and  investing  them  with  purely 
physical  attributes  takes  them  from  the  realm  of  the  social 
and  places  them  into  the  category  of  the  mechanical.  Mys- 
tery is  resolved  into  force ;  teleology  into  mechanism.  Movement 
is  now  no  longer  invariably  associated  with  life.  It  may  be 
strictly  mechanical.  The  rise  of  the  scientific  attitude  in  its 
various  manifestations  means  the  death  of  many  old  notions. 
In  the  case  of  disease,  for  instance,  demon  possession  and  its 
cure,  exorcism,  could  no  longer  hold  their  own  when  a  scientific 
treatment  of  disease  was  discovered.  Enter  pathogenic  bacilli, 
exeunt  demons  and  foreign  substances  such  as  crystals. 

Finally,  the  rational  socialization  of  the  universe  of  social 
objects  by  the  group  invests  the  social  object  itself  with  an 
orderly,  law-abiding  character^  This  is  a  late  product  and  is  to 
be  carefully;  distinguished  from  the  naive  primitive  social  con- 
sciousness which  is  a  result  of  the  normal  functioning  of  man's 
native  endowment  of  instincts  and  impulses.  The  type  of  social 
consciousness  here  referred  to  is  built  through  deliberate  reflec- 
tion upon  the  native  endowment.  The  god  is  no  longer  thought 
to  be  arbitrary  and  capricious.  His  conduct  is  rational.  He  is 
completely  socialized.  He  seeks  the  welfare  of  all.  Not  ritual 
but  rational  conduct — i.e.,  the  moral  act — is  the  standard  by 
which  he  judges.  If  the  rituals  are  retained  it  is  not  because  of  the 
effect  they  have  upon  the  higher  power,  but  because  of  their  influ- 
ence upon  the  participant.  It  is  well  known  that  the  initiation  cere- 
monies (I  refer  particularly  to  such  as  take  the  religious  char- 
acter)  of  modern  secret  societies  are  designed  to  that  end. 

II 

If  now  we  turn  to  a  description  of  the  general  stages  through 
which  the  ritual  passes  in  its  development,  we  find  the  follow- 
ing: The  primitive  ritual  has  its  origin  as  the  accompany- 
ing overt  expression  of  a  naive  and  relatively  undiscriminat- 
ing   type   of   consciousness. ^      Primitive   man    sees   that   particular 

^  Miss  Strong  has  defended  the  same  position  with  reference  to  prayer  in  her 
monograph  on  the  psychology  of  prayer  (Anna  Louise  Strong,  A  Consideration 
of  Prayer  from   the  Standpoint  of  Social  Psychology,   1908). 


RITUAL  DEVELOPMENT  AND  SOCIAL  CONSCIOUSNESS  59 

events  follow  upon  certain  actions.  His  conclusion  is  thai  a 
reproduction  of  the  antecedents  will  mediate  the  consequences. 
Sometimes  he  is  right,  and  at  others  wrong.  He  is  unable  because 
of  lack  of  ade(iuate  teclinique  to  distinguish  that  which  is  essential 
from  that  which  is  merely  incidental,  or  that  which  is  social  frum 
that  which  is  physical.  He  believes  that  the  order  and  success  of  his 
world  depend  upon  the  accuracy  with  which  he  is  able  to  repro- 
duce that  which  tradition  teaches  him  to  be  the  cause.  The 
slightest  variation  in  the  prescribed  method  is  believed  to  be 
disastrous.  Thus,  rain  will  not  follow  upon  the  performance  of 
the  rain  ceremony  unless  all  the  traditional  minutiae  have  been 
carefully  and  literally  carried  out.  This  lack  of  logical  analysis 
is  one  of  the  most  potent  factors  in  the  development  of  the  most 
elaborate  rituals,  often  extending  over  days  and  sometimes  over 
weeks  and  months.  When  at  the  time  of  a  crisis  a  new  element  is 
added,  the  old  remains  with  but  slight  modifications.  W.  W.  Skeat 
has  called  attention  to  this  in  his  Malay  Magic.  Over  the  substratum 
of  original  primitive  rituals,  we  find  a  veneer  of  Hinduism  and  Mo- 
hammedanism. Likewise  in  China,  one  and  the  same  individual 
often  sees  no  inconsistency  in  being  a  Confucianist.  a  Taoist,  a 
Buddhist,  and  a  Christian.  Anything  that  works  in  the  social 
environment  is  ipso  facto  satisfactory.  The  writer  at  one  time 
had  a  coolie,  Lao  Wang,  employed  as  gardener,  who  one  day 
came  to  him  with  the  announcement  that  he  wished  to  join  the 
church.  "Why?"  I  asked.  "Because  I  am  working  for  you,"  he 
answered.  He  was  desirous  of  so  adapting  himself  to  his  envi- 
ronment that  he  might  reap  every  benefit.  He  was  a  typical  child 
of  nature.  The  incident  of  being  employed  by  a  European  was 
the  occasion  for  that  crude  or  incomplete  type  of  thought  which 
adapts  itself  to  the  new  situation  without  recognizing  any  of  the 
deeper  logical  and  moral  implications  of  the  act.  The  chief 
objection  to  such  primitive  types  of  thought  is  just  tlii>  lack  of 
adequate   logical   connection. 

The  ritual.  We  have  heretofore  asserted,  is  the  (outcome  of 
primitive  man's  eflfort  at  control.  With  him  it  is  a  practical  afil'air. 
The  control  sought  is  over  his  world.  The  ritual  is  not  restricted 
to  some  aspects  of  life:  it  i)re-empts  the  entire  realm  of  cxi)cri- 
ence.  At' this  undifferentiated  stage  it  covers  everything.  Religion, 
philosophy,  science,  medicine,  ethics,  and  the  techniques  of 
everyday   life,   all   are    within   its   lx:)rders.      We   may   assert    with 


6o  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   RITUALISM 

confidence    that   by    far    the    larger    number    of    ceremonies    are 
approved  group  habits.     But  that   this  is  not  universally  true   is 
attested  by  the  clandestine  manner  in  which   some  magical  cere- 
[    monies  are  performed. 

We  may  go  a  step  farther  in  our  analysis  by  pointing  out 
that  the  primitive  rituals  contain  both  the  thou-shalt  and  the 
thou-shalt-not.  They  are  both  religious  and  irreligious,  moral 
and  immoral.  The  religious  elements  are  incorporated  in  those 
which  are  performed  with  the  approval  of  the  group:  all  others 
are  irreligious.  The  same  is  true  with  reference  to  the  moral 
and  the  immoral.  That  the  entire  group  should  participate  as  a 
man  is  not  necessary,  but  its  approval  is  indispensable  to  religion 
and  morality.  The  "black  art"  rituals  performed  without  the 
approval  of  the  group  are  examples  of  irreligious  and  immoral 
ceremonies. 

Any  really  profound  change  in  the  attitude  toward  ritualism 
depends  upon  further  differentiation  of  the  objects  of  conscious- 
ness. The  difficulty  does  not  lie  in  adding  to  the  rituals,  for  the 
dominant  tendency  is  progressively  to  ritualize.  The  Jews  of  the 
time  of  Jesus  are  a  case  in  point.  The  real  problem  lies  in 
eliminating  certain  objects  and  situations  from  the  ritual.  This 
state  of  affairs  is  reached  when  logical  or  scientific  implications 
are  comprehended  at  least  to  the  extent  that  the  efficiency  of  the 
ceremony  is  critically  examined,  or  when  the  value  of  individual 
experience  takes  such  a  place  in  the  life  of  the  group  that  his 
'  manner  of  reacting  is  no  longer  definitely  delimited.  Individual 
'  freedom  is  not  the  virgin  soil  of  ritualism. 

As  soon,  then,  as  discrimination  begins,  inroad  is  made  on  the 
field  of  ritualism.     We  may  take  the  rain  ceremony  as  an  instance. 
As  long  as  the  rain  is  viewed  as  a   social   object   which   can   be 
influenced    by    direct    appeal    either    through    pantomimicry     or 
1  language,  the  ritual  is  the  normal  method  of  control.     Likewise, 
1  as  long  as  the  prescientific  stage  of  reasoning  from  pure  analogy 
\  prevails,    the    ritual    subsists.      The    successful    act    and    its    con- 
comitants are  incorporated  into  the  ritual  until  it  sometimes  takes 
days  to  perform  the  ceremony.     When,   however,   the  utter  use- 
lessness   of  all   these   ceremonial   performances   in   bringing   about 
rain    is    realized,    when    scientific'  research    has    brought    to    light 


RITUAL  DEVELOPMENT  AND  SOCIAL  CONSCIOUSNESS  6l 

the  inanity  of  any  such  method  of  control,  the  ritual  dies  a 
natural  death. 

The  thing  essential  for  such  a  hreakdown  is  that  the  group 
become  conscious  of  the  new  situation.  In  this  the  authorities 
and  leaders  of  the  group  may  either  render  great  assistance  or 
materially  hinder  the  course  of  events.  The  Chinese  in  many 
parts  of  the  empire  have  not  yet  become  cognizant  of  the  situa- 
tion and  are  not  infrequently  heard  performing  the  rain  ceremony 
or  the  ceremony  for  the  cessation  of  rain.  A  large  percent- 
age of  the  officials  know  well  that  such  ceremonies  have  no 
rain-determining  values,  but  they  increase  their  prestige  over  the 
people  by  performing  the  ceremony  as  soon  as  the  barometer 
indicates  the  desired  change.  Let  the  group  once  become 
thoroughly  inoculated  with  the  new  attitude  toward  rain,  and  the 
ceremony  will  disappear.  This  particular  ceremony  is,  of  course, 
an  obvious  case  and  one  comparatively  easy  to  deal  with.  The 
scientific  attitude  has,  however,  made  such  inroads  that  it  has 
pretty  well  disposed  not  only  of  this  but  of  all  rituals  designed  for 
the  control  of  the  physical  environment. 

Likewise,  if  we  turn  to  the  development  of  individual  free- 
dom and  of  the  recognition  of  the  value  of  individual  experience, 
which  are  indispensable  accompaniments  of  scientific  progress, 
w^e  find  a  tendency  to  sever  connection  with  old  group  standards 
and  to  contend  for  autonomic  action.  That  was  the  motivating 
spirit  of  Martin  Luther  and  his  sympathizers  in  the  Reformation. 
Its  success  meant  a  break  with  the  ritual  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
church.  On  the  other  hand,  if  one  would  see  for  himself  just 
how  strong  the  hold  of  ritualism  is  upon  a  people  that  has  not 
yet  passed  from  religious  serfdom  into  religious  autonomy,  he 
will  find  a  superb  example  in  a  comparatively  high  stage  of  cul- 
ture in  the  famous  City  of  Seven  Hills.  Religion  and  ritualism 
are  there  synonymous.  If,  perchance,  he  should  find  himself  at 
the  Scala  Sancta,  he  will  be  impressed  with  the  fact,  as  he  sees 
young  and  old  slowly  and  laboriously  climbing  the  stairs  on  hands 
and  knees,  that  almost  anything  can  be  made  to  have  religious  sig- 
nificance, if  only  it  has  the  sanction  and  approval  of  the  group,  and 
that  the  most  unmoral  act  can  be  given  tremendous  moral  value. 

The  third  stage  in  the  development  of  ritualism  is  reached 
when  the  group  has  added  the  conception  of  a  completely  social- 


62  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   RITUALISM 

{■  ized  God  and  the  ideal  of  a  completely  socialized  humanity 
to  the  principle  of  autonomy  and  to  the  scientific  attitude  which 
culls    away    any    attempt    to    attain    physical    results     from    the 

I  ritual.  The  ceremony  then  loses  its  obligatory  character  as 
regards  the  deity.  It  is  performed  for  subjective  rather  than 
for  objective  results.  It  may  at  times  fall  away  entirely.  The 
real  object  of  the  ritual,  in  case  it  subsists,  is  the  attainment  of 

,  arwider,  more  social  self.  The  alter,  usually  in  the  form  of  the 
deity,  is  an  organization  of  content  not  included  in  the  self.-  The 
ritual  is  performed,  on  the  one  hand,  to  make  that  content  one's 
own.  In  that  aspect  it  becomes  contemplative.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  ritual  may  be  performed  in  order  to  develop  capacity 
for  moral  action.  Contemplation  here  gives  way  to  a  desire  to 
act — lO  enter  into  a  more  social  relationship  with  other  selves. 
Both  aspects  are  present  in  the  rituals  of  modern  Christianity. 
It  is  not  necessary,  however,  that  the  content  of  the  aesthetic 
consciousness  or  the  stimulus  to  social  activity  be  presented  in  the 
ritualistic  <cnv.  The  ritual,  now  no  longer  thought  to  be  as 
essential  as  in  piimitive  society,  is  simply  a  convenient  instru- 
ment of  social  control. 

*  "Strong,  op.  cit.,  p.    no. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE   RITUAL  ILLUSTRATED 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  gave  a  general  description  of 
situations  that  produce  profound  changes  in  the  social  conscious- 
ness, and  hence  tend  to  modify  the  ritual.  To  this  we  added  a 
sketch  of  the  general  stages  through  which  ritualism  passes  in  its 
development.  In  the  present  chapter  we  will  attempt  to  make 
the  point  of  view  maintained  more  concrete.  To  this  end,  we 
will  examine  the  life  and  the  ritual  of  the  Semites,  first  in  their 
primitive  or  nomadic  condition,  and  then  in  the  various  stages 
of  their  development  as  exemplified  in  the  Old  Testament.  From 
this  we  will  make  the  passage  into  New  Testament  ritualism  as 
manifested  in  the  Eucharist,  and  trace  modifications  of  the  latter 
in  the  Christian  church.  We  are  defending  the  thesis  that  the 
ritual  tends  to  change  as  the  social  consciousness  changes,  and 
that  profound  changes  in  the  ritual  are  to  be  attributed  directly 
to  changes  within  the  social  consciousness. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  go  into  a  detailed  discussion  regarding 
the  cradle  of  the  Semites.  Whether  they  originally  came  from 
Babylonia  as  von  Kremer,*  Guidi,  and  ilommel  advocate,  or  from 
Africa  as  Jastrsw,  Brinton,  Palgrave.  and  Keane  believe,  or  were 
indigenous  to  Arabia  as  Sayce,  Sprenger,  and  others  maintain,  is 
of  no  special  importance  for  this  study.  If  the  Semites  were  not 
originally  at  home  in  Arabia,  their  migration  to  it  took  place  very 
early.  "Any  statement  of  it  in  years  is  a  mere  guess."  It  is  cer- 
tain that  "the  peculiar  conditions  of  life  which  the  Arabian  desert 
and  oases  have  presented  for  millenniums  are  the  matrix  in  which 
Semitic  character  as  it  is  known  to  us  was  born."-  Barton  in  his 
Semitic  Origins  has  called  attention  to  the  central  place  of  the 
palm  tree  in  the  semi-agricultural  nomadic  life  of  the  clans.  The 
influence  and  sanctity  of  the  oases  is  probably  preserved  in  the 
"high  places"  so  peculiar  to  Semitic  religious  worship  in  widely 
separated  localities. 

*  George  Aaron  Barton,  A  Sketch  of  Semitic  Origins  (New  York,  1002), 
chap.  i. 

^Jbid.,  p.  28. 

63 


64  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF   RITUALISM 

From  Arabia  migrations  took  place  into  lands  occupied  by  the 
Semites  during  the  historical  period.  The  Babylonians,  Aramaeans, 
and  Canaanites  first  departed  for  new  fields.  They  probably  first 
settled  in  Babylonia  and  the  neighboring  regions.  Later  this  body 
of  emigrants  was  divided  by  further  migrations,  the  Canaanites 
settling  in  Palestine,  where  the  Israelites  later  found  them,  and  the 
Assyrians  choosing  what  was  later  known  as  Assyria.  The  main 
body  in  Central  Arabia  also  lost  clans  through  migration  southward, 
when  a  portion  of  them  crossed  into  Africa  and  settled  in 
Abyssinia. 

The  early  Semites  were  essentially  nomads.  As  the  Israelites 
were  Semites,  we  have  no  reason  for  viewing  them  in  any  way 
essentially  different  from  all  the  rest  of  their  kinsmen.  They, 
too,  were  nomads  with  manners,  customs,  and  disposition  like  the 
others.  The  chief  care  of  the  ancient  Semitic  nomads  was  their 
flocks.  Some  sort  of  social  organization  was  indispensable  to 
insure  safety  from  marauders  and  wild  animals,  and  to  secure 
co-operation  in  obtaining  food.  The  clan,  both  W.  Robertson 
Smith  and  George  Aaron  Barton  are  agreed,  was  the  earliest  social 
unit,^  and  was  organized  for  the  purpose  of  protection  and  co- 
operation. There  is  a  reason  to  believe  that  this  is  a  justifiable 
position,  not  only  for  historic  times  but  also  far  back  into  pre- 
historic times.  The  nucleus  of  such  a  clan  was  generally  a  group 
of  brothers  and  sisters  who  constituted  a  household  and  were 
bound  together  either  through  a  tie  of  actual  blood  relationship  or 
through  a  blood  covenant.*    The  god  of  the  group,  who  was  really 

^  W.  Robertson  Smith,  The  Religion  of  the  Semites,  p.  35;  Barton,  op.  cit., 
p.   30. 

*  H.  Clay  Trumbull  in  his  book  The  Blood  Covenant  (New  York,  1885), 
pp.  5  f.,  describes  a  later  development  of  the  rite  as  it  was  consummated  in  a 
village  at  the  base  of  the  mountains  of  Lebanon.  Two  young  men  wished  to 
enter  into  a  covenant  relation.  Relatives  and  friends  were  congregated  in  the 
open  place  at  the  village  fountain.  Public  announcement  of  the  purpose  and 
reasons  for  entering  into  this  compact  was  made  by  the  young  men,  and  dupli- 
cate copies  were  made  of  these  declarations  and  one  was  given  to  each.  These 
having  been  duly  signed  by  themselves  and  several  witnesses,  one  of  the  young 
men  opened  a  vein  in  the  arm  of  the  other  with  a  small  knife  and  by  means  of 
a  quill  inserted  into  the  wound  sucked  the  living  blood.  The  blood  which  had 
adhered  to  the  knife-blade  was  wiped  on  one  of  the  duplicate  covenant  records. 
The  same  ceremony  was  then  performed  by  the  other  party  and  the  knife  wiped 
on  the  other  paper.  Each  blood-marked  paper  was  folded  separately  and  sewed 
up  in  a  small  amulet,  to  be  worn  by  the  covenant  brothers. 


DEVELOPMENT    OF   THE    RITUAL   ILLUSTRATED  65 

a  totem,  was  the  common  ancestor  of  the  clan.''  The  clan  was 
made  up  of  its  god,  the  members  of  the  group,  and  their  animals, 
"all  of  whom  were  akin  to  one  another."*'  Each  member  of  the 
clan  had  this  one  god  as  his  own,  though  the  reality  of  other  gods 
was  not  denied.  The  link  between  the  god  and  his  clansmen  was 
of  the  strongest  character. 

The  primitive  Semitic  clans  were  small  and  continually  at  war 
with  one  another.  In  their  various  enterprises  the  god  joined  with 
them.  Their  wars  were  his  wars ;  and  when  any  of  them  were 
injured  or  slain,  he  assisted  in  the  necessary  act  of  retaliation."  In 
return  for  this,  he  had  indisputable  claim  to  the  reverence  and  serv- 
ice of  the  community.  The  relationship  existing  between  god  and 
worshiper  was  interpreted  on  the  analogy  of  human  relationships. 

In  the  fifth  chapter  we  have  noted  that  primitive  man's  con- 
ception of  nature  is  dominantly  social.  He  views  everything  as 
living.  The  Semites  were  in  this  respect  no  different  from  other 
primitive  peoples.  They  believed  that  they  were  surrounded  by 
jinn  or  spirits,  as  is  shown  in  the  account  of  Jacob's  dream.  What 
is  more,  the  gods  of  the  primitive  Semitic  community  had  a  definite 
relation  to  some  material  objects.  They  were  thought  to  have  their 
home  at  certain  fixed  sanctuaries ;  and  their  power  and  authority 
were  believed  to  be  restricted  to  circumscribed  areas.  Thus  in  the 
case  of  Jahwe,  Sinai,  in  the  land  of  the  Kenites,*  where  Moses  first 
met  him,  was  his  dwelling-place.  The  dwelling-place  of  the  god 
was  called  a  ''high  place."  Here  the  goddess,  for  the  Semites  were 
extremely  interested  in  sexual  life,  also  had  her  abode.  Rarton 
suggests  that  the  origin  of  god  and  goddess  is  to  be  traced  to  the 
culture  of  the  date  palm  in  the  oases,  which  would  mean  that 
primitive  Semitic  religion  was  organized  on  the  analogies  of  the 
life  of  the  community.''  The  deities  were  believed  to  be  the  source 
of  fertility  and  life  (plant,  animal,  and  human).  They  were  not 
ubiquitous,  but  were  confined  to  definite  areas  and  particular 
groups. 

•^  Menzies,  History  of  Religion,  p.  158;  Semitic  Origins,  p.  35. 

'Semitic  Origins,  p.  81.  '  Menzies,  of<.  cit.,  p.   158. 

*  Semitic  Origins,  p.  267.  The  Kenites  are  also  known  as  Midianites.  The 
relation  of  Moses  to  the  Midianites  is  well  known  to  every  Bible  student.  His 
wife  was  a  Midianite,  and  it  was  among  them  that  Moses  found  refuge  after  he 
had  slain  the  Eg>'ptian. 

» Ibid.,  p.  83. 


66  THE   PSYCHOLOGY  OF   RITUALISM 

Such,  with  minor  variations,  was  the  social  consciousness  of 
the  early  Semites.  The  community  consisted  of  god,  goddess,  the 
actual  members  of  the  group,  and  the  animals  belonging  to  the 
group.  All  were  bound  together  in  one  social  bond.  The  relation- 
ship was  not  that  of  an  outraged  and  angry  god  to  a  disloyal  and 
depraved  community,  but  rather  one  of  fellowship  and  co-opera- 
tion in  the  affairs  of  life. 

What  type  of  ritual,  let  the  reader  ask  himself,  would  be  natural 
under  such  circumstances?  Is  it  reasonable  to  expect  that  a  high 
sense  of  sin  and  unworthiness  be  revealed?  ^Manifestly  not,  for 
the  god  is  just  as  much  a  member  of  the  community  as  any  human 
being,  nor  is  it  conceivable  that  he  could  be  completely  alienated 
from  it.  The  normal  type  of  sacrifice  under  such  circumstances 
would  be  an  expression  of  fellowship,  and  of  the  intimacy  of  the 
bond  existing  between  the  god  and  his  clansmen.  The  precise 
nature  would  depend  upon  environment  and  the  techniques  ac- 
quired. That  this  is  true  to  fact  is  abundantly  evidenced  by  the 
result  of  modern  scholarship.     Subjoined  is  what  Menzies  finds: 

Sacrifice  is  not  domestic  but  takes  place  at  the  spot  where  the  god  is 
thought  to  reside,  or  where  the  symbol  stands  which  represents  him.  Usually 
this  was  an  upright  monolith,  such  as  is  found  in  every  part  of  the  world, 
and  the  central  act  of  the  sacrifice  consisted  in  applying  the  blood  of  the 
rew-slain  victim  to  this  stone.  The  blood  was  thus  brought  near  to  the 
god,  the  clansmen  also  may  have  touched  the  blood  at  the  same  time ;  and 
the  act  meant  that  the  god  and  the  tribesmen,  all  coming  into  contact  witth 
the  blood,  which  originally  perhaps  was  that  of  the  animal  totem  of  the 
clan,  declared  that  they  were  of  the  same  blood  and  renewed  the  bond 
which  connected  them  with  each  other.  A  further  feature  of  early  Semitic 
sacrifice  is  also  that  the  slaughter  and  the  blood  ceremony  are  succeeded 
by  a  banquet,  at  which  the  god  is  thought  to  sit  at  table  with  his  clients, 

his    share   being   exposed    before    him    on    the    stone    or    altar Many 

examples  may  be  collected  in  the  early  historical  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment of  sacrifices  which  are  at  the  same  time  social  and  festive  occasions  ; 
in  fact,  in  early  Israel  every  act  of  slaughter  was  a  sacrifice,  and  every 
sacrifice  a  banquet.  The  people  dance  and  make  merry  before  their  god, 
of  whose  favour  they  have  just  become  assured  once  more  by  the  act  of 
communion  they  have  observed.  The  undertaking  they  have  on  hand  is 
hallowed  by  his  approval,  so  they  can  boldly  advance  to  it ;  the  corporate 
spirit  of  the  tribe  is  quickened  by  renewed  contact  with  its  head ;  all  thoughts 
of  care  are  far  away ;  the  religious  act  makes  the  worshippers  simply  and 
unaffectedly  happy,  if  it  does  not  even  fill  them  with  an  orgiastic  ecstasy.'" 

"Menzies,  op.  cit.,  pp.  162  f. 


DEVELOPMENT    OF    THE    RITUAL    ILLUSTRATED  t^ 

Karl  Marti  has  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  religion  of 
the  Old  Testament  passed  through  four  periods,  which  he  distin- 
guishes as  the  Nomad  religion,  the  Peasant  religion,  the  religion  of 
the  Prophets,  and  the  Legal  religion.  In  the  first  or  nomadic  period, 
religion  corresponded  in  all  its  essentials  to  the  description  given 
above.  We  have  simply  the  expression  in  rites  and  ceremonies  of 
the  social  consciousness  of  the  early  Semites.  ]f,  now,  in  order 
to  have  someihing  as  definite  and  concrete  as  possible  along  the 
line  of  Semitic  development,  we  turn  orr  attention  specifically  to 
the  Israelites,  we  find  that  a  profound  change  took  place  in  their 
manner  of  living  and  their  view  of  tlie  world  when  tliey  made  the 
transition  from  a  pastoral  to  an  agricultural  stage  of  culture.'' 
This  was  effected  when  they  took  possession  of  Canaan.  Under 
the  leadership  of  Moses  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Sinai,  the  various 
tribes  which  had  been  in  bondage  in  Egypt  were  bound  together  into 
one  organization.  They  accepted  as  their  god  the  Kenite  Jahwe, 
whom  they  believed  to  be  their  deliverer.  As  the  Kenites  were  a 
clan  whose  origin  was  more  directly  Arabian,  the  Israelitish  clans 
were  thus  brought  under  the  direct  infiuence  of  early  Semitic 
ideas,  and  under  such  circumstances  the  tendency  would  be  not 
away  from  but  in  the  direction  of  primitive  institutions.  The 
religion  they  had  under  the  leadership  of  Moses  was  nomadic. 

When  they  entered  Canaan  they  immediately  came  into  con- 
tact with  a  people  who  spoke  a  language  similar  to  their  own.  The 
tribes  of  Canaan  were  originally  nomadic  like  themselves,  but  had 
long  since  advanced  to  agriculture  and  the  building  of  cities.  The 
Babylonian  cuneiform  writing  was  known  to  them,  and  elements 
of  Eg)'ptian  civilization  had  also  been  assimilated.'-  Their  religion 
was  no  less  dififerent  from  that  of  the  Israelites  than  their  civiliza- 
tion. The  change  from  a  nomadic  to  an  agricultural  life  had  made 
a  reconstruction  of  religion  inevitable.  They  carried  on  the  wor- 
ship of  Baal,  the  male  god,  and  of  a  female  deity  in  the  "high 
places"  scattered  over  Palestine,  where  were  found  an  upright 
stone  called  "Massebah"  and  a  massive  tree  trunk  with  some  of  its 
branches  intact  called  "Ashera."  These  were  thought  to  be  the 
abode  of  the  male  and  the  female  deities."     The  name  Baal  is  not 

"  Vide  chap,   vi,  p.   57.  of   this   thesis. 

^=Karl    Marti,    The  Religion   of   the   Old   Testament    (New   York,    1907).   PP- 

74  f- 

"  Menzies,  op.  cit..  p.  166. 


68  THE   PSYCHOLOGY  OF   RITUALISM 

to  be  construed  as  a  proper  name :  its  original  meaning  was  simply 
lord  or  master.  There  were  many  Baals,  therefore,  of  which  each 
particular  one  was  the  lord  of  the  soil  belonging  to  the  worshiping 
community,  as  well  as  the  author  of  its  fertility.  The  goddess 
represented  the  principle  of  increase. 

The  act  of  worship  was  distinguished  by  its  "cheerful  and  festal 
nature.  The  offerings  were  fruits  of  the  soil — corn,  wine,  oil, 
fruits,  etc.,  which  constituted  the  feast  at  which,  in  accordance 
with  the  old  Semitic  custom,  the  worshipers  were  seated  around 
the  festive  board — the  god  their  honored  guest."^*  He  was  to 
enjoy  the  rich  blessings  but  as  lord  of  the  fields  and  not  as  clansman. 

It  is  evident  from  the  above  sketch  that  in  the  course  of  time 
the  Canaanites  had  introduced  into  their  ritual  many  elements 
from  their  agricultural  life.  This  may  seem  like  so  much  veneer 
on  old  forms ;  but  in  the  realm  of  the  psychic  one  layer  cannot  be 
superimposed  on  another  without  profoundly  affecting  both.  Ves- 
tiges of  the  old  continue  to  survive,  but  they  are  rewoven  and 
reconstructed.  When  the  Canaanite  feasted  his  god  on  corn,  wine, 
and  fruits,  he  was  dealing  with  articles  not  generally  in  the  hands 
of  nomads.  The  typical  nomadic  sacrifice  was  that  of  an  animal. 
Moreover,  the  sacrifices  of  the  early  nomadic  Semites  was  an  act 
of  sacramental  communion.  The  group  met  with  its  god  "and  all 
eating  and  drinking  together,  assurances  were  given  and  received 
that  the  good  understanding  still  continued  which  bound  the  tribes- 
men to  their  god  and  to  each  other. "^^  When  the  Canaanites 
became  prosperous  agricultural  people  and  the  Baals  lords  of  the 
land  and  the  sky,  the  relation  between  the  worshiper  and  the  god  was 
entirely  different.  A  profound  change  had  taken  place  within  the 
social  consciousness.  The  farmers  felt  the  necessity  of  being  on 
good  terms  with  the  givers  of  corn,  wine,  and  other  produce  of  the 
field.  The  continuation  of  these  favors  from  the  deity  depended 
upon  a  friendly  relationship  on  the  part  of  the  god.  A  poor  year 
would  produce  an  emotional  effect  of  a  profound  nature  on  the 
farmers  by  making  them  feel  that  the  controlling  deity  had  with- 
held the  increase ;  and  as  a  result  sacrifices  would  be  increased  and 
the  conception  thereof  be  changed.  The  sacrifice,  no  longer  a  sacra- 
mental communion,  became  a  gift  to  which  the  deity  was  entitled. 
"With  conceptions  such  as  these  many  rites  and  ceremonies  will 

Hiram  C.  Brown,  The  Historical  Basis  of  Religion   (Boston,   1906),  p.   175. 


14  ■ 

^^  Menzies,  op.  cit.,  p.  179. 


DEVELOPMENT    OK    THE    RITl-AI.    1 1.LLTSTRATED  69 

have  come  into  use,  on  the  due  performance  of  which  depended 
the  enjoyment  of  the  fruits  of  the  earth.""- 

Such  was  the  nature  of  the  people  witli  whom  the  Israehtes 
came  into  contact  when  they  took  possession  of  Canaan.  We  ask,: 
What  was  the  effect?  A  long  and  bloody  conflict  was  waged  with 
the  occupants  of  the  land,  out  of  which  the  Israelites  came  forth  as 
victors.  This  was  not,  however,  accomplished  by  partially  exter- 
minating the  people  and  for  the  rest  destroying  every  vestige  of 
former  times.  The  social  consciousness  of  the  Israelites  them- 
selves was  profoundly  changed.  Israel  overcame  the  Canaanite 
religion  by  taking  over  the  religion  of  the  concjuered  and  fusing  it 
with  its  own.  "The  nomad  religion  became  a  peasant  religion  and 
Jahwe  the  God  of  Israel,  the  Lord  of  Palestine."^'  What  is  more, 
Jahwe  in  this  new  capacity  became  the  deity  of  a  typical  agricul- 
tural people.  He  was  honored  with  the  cultus  of  the  early  Baal 
worship.  The  "high  places"  became  his  places  of  worship.  Surely 
our  thesis  that  the  ritual  tends  to  change  with  the  changed  social 
consciousness  has  proven  to  be  true  in  this  instance.  Jahwe  has 
moved  from  his  original  home  on  Mount  Sinai  to  the  "high  places" 
of  Baal.  He  is  still  the  god  of  the  Israelites,  but  in  the  capacity 
of  lord  of  the  land.  Not  communion  and  fellowship,  but  the  pay- 
ment of  a  just  obligation,  was  the  great  thought  back  of  the  ritual. 
The  Israelitish  peasant  had  no  more  right  to  appear  before  Jahwe 
without  the  sacrificial  gift  than  he  had  before  any  human  poten- 
tate. In  fact,  no  better  figure  can  be  applied  to  Jahwe  during  the 
period  when  Israel  was  a  kingdom  than  that  of  king.  Religion  was 
strictly  a  community  affair.  The  deity  took  no  special  interest  in 
the  individual :  the  welfare  of  the  nation  was  his  concern.  When 
the  individual  needed  counsel  or  comfort,  he  sought  the  wizard  and 
the  soothsayer,  and  like  every  other  primitive  man  believed  im- 
plicitly in  magical  ceremonies  and  influences. 

In  the  eighth  century  r.c.  we  have  a  period  uf  protest  against, 
and  of  reconstruction  of,  old  conceptions.  Though  the  movement 
as  a  whole  was  not  successful  in  its  pre-exilic  aspects,  it  shows 
that  socialization  of  the  deity,  and  the  emergence  of  an  effort  to 
secure  proper  evaluation  of  the  individual  experience,  tend  to  break 
down  old  ceremonies.'^     I  refer  to  the  prophets  whose  teachings 


"  Marti,  op.  cit.,  p.  94. 
"  Ibid.,  p.  99. 


"  Discrimination  is  here  setting  in.     Vide  chap  vi.  p.  60,  of  this  thesis. 


^0  THE    PSYCHOLOGY   OF    RITUALISM 

Stand  out  in  sharp  contrast  to  the  popular  religion  of  Israel.  The 
prophets  were  not  foretellers,  nor  were  they  soothsayers  and 
wizards.  They  were  forth-tellers,  intensely  practical  men,  "en- 
lightened and  devoted  patriots,  social  and  ethical  reformers, 
spiritual  teachers. "^^  They  made  the  passage  from  monolatry  to 
monotheism.  Theirs  was  the  first  real  monotheism  that  appeared 
in  the  history  of  Israel  and.  with  the  exception  of  the  Egyptian 
monotheism  in  the  time  of  Pharaoh  Amenhotep  IV,  probably  the 
first  in  the  world.  There  is  this  great  difference  between  Chuen- 
aten's  and  that  of  the  prophets,  that  the  former  was  produced 
through  syncretism  of  Egypt's  various  deities,  whereas  the  prophet's 
monotheism  was  ethical.  Jahwe  of  the  prophets  took  no  delight 
in  multiplicity  of  sacrifices.  An  ethical  god,  a  social  god  who  had 
risen  above  the  mere  humoring  of  a  people  whose  cultus  made 
room  for  drunkenness  and  license,  needed  no  sacrifice.  "I  hate,  I 
despise  your  feasts,  and  I  will  take  no  delight  in  your  solemn 
assemblies."-"  was  the  message  he  sent  through  Amos.  "To  what 
purpose  is  the  multitude  of  your  sacrifices  unto  me?  saith  the 
Lord ;  .  .  .  .  bring  no  more  vain  oblations ;  incense  is  an  abomina- 
tion unto  me ;  the  new  moons  and  sabbaths,  the  calling  of  assem- 
blies, I  cannot  away  with ;  it  is  iniquity,  even  the  solemn  meeting.-^ 
"What  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee,"  cried  Alicah,  "but  to  do 
justly,  and  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God?"" 
That  type  of  social  consciousness,  if  once  it  had  become  dominant, 
would  have  brought  to  an  end  the  peasant  ritual.  The  purpose  of 
the  deity  was  conceived  as  the  establishing  of  righteousness  and 
goodness  on  earth.  It  could  not  be  tied  up  arbitrarily  with  the 
welfare  of  the  Israelites,  for  he  was  the  God  of  all  men.  His  high 
ethical  purpose  was  individual  and  universal.  The  individual  was 
responsible  for  his  own  conduct.  Salvation  was  for  all.  "Look 
unto  me  and  be  ye  saved,  all  the  ends  of  the  earth,  for  I  am  God 
and  there  is  none  else."-^ 

The  prophetic  ideals  did  not  become  popular  before  the  exile. 
The  prophets  suffered  much  persecution ;  for  the  mass  of  the 
people  was  still  clinging  to  old  institutions,  and  was  unable  to  dis- 
cern deep  ethical  and  social  values.     The  prophets  gathered  about 

^®  Charles  Foster  Kent,   The  Origin  and  Permanent  Value  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment (New  York.    1906).  p.   113.     Vide  chap,  vi,  p.   57,  of  this  thesis. 
-°  Amos   5:21.  -  Micah   6:8. 

-^Isaiah   i:ii,   13.  ^Isaiah  45:22. 


DEVELOPMENT    OF    THE    RITUAL   ILLUSTRATED  7I 

them  little  groups  of  faithful  adherents  and  of  persons  more  or 
less  interested.  Just  what  would  have  come  out  of  this  movement 
no  one  can  estimate,  for  a  great  calamity  befell  the  Hebrews. 
They  were  vanquished  in  war  and  led  off  to  I^abylon  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar. As  it  is,  we  must  seek  for  its  influence  in  any  reconstruc- 
tion that  might  emerge  out  of  the  calamity.  In  passing,  this  fact 
is  noticeable,  that  the  very  nature  of  the  prophetic  message  was 
such  that  a  sympathizer  would  find  vindication  of  its  truth  in  the 
calamity  itself.  That  J  ah  we  should  allow  his  own  nation  to  be  led 
off  into  captivity  would  indicate  that  he  did  not  really  consider 
himself  as  inseparably  bound  to  one  people,  or  that  he  was  too 
weak  and  inefficient  to  hold  his  own.  llie  latter  wa>  inconceivable 
from  the  Hebrew  point  of  view. 

That  a  reconstruction  would  follow  as  closely  as  possible  in  the 
wake  of  Israel's  captivity  was  to  be  expected.  The  spirit  of  the 
prophets  was  not  dead.  The  Babylonian  exile  was  more  tlian  a 
crisis.  It  was  short,  but  not  too  short  to  effect  a  fundamental 
transformation  in  the  political,  social,  and  religious  character  of 
the  Jews.-*  What  the  masses  refused  to  do  while  they  were  pros- 
perous in  Palestine,  they  now  g'adly  did.  The  calm  and  leisure 
of  the  exile  gave  them  time  to  meditate  and  opened  their  ears  to 
the  messages  of  their  prophetic  teachers.  "Torn  from  their  old 
associations,  they  no  longer  felt  the  spell  of  the  high  places  and 
heathen  customs."  They  began  to  look  upon  the  captivity  as 
Jahwe's  punishment  for  their  sins,  and  longed  to  be  reinstated  in 
his  favor.  No  keen  analysis  is  needed  to  see  that  such  a  type  of 
social  consciousness  is  the  matrix  out  of  which  piacular  sacrihces 
are  born.  Add  to  this  the  fact  that  the  Babylonians  were  con- 
stantly offering  propitiatory  sacrifices  to  their  deities,-^  and  that  the 
Jews  knew  and  saw  this,  and  the  typical  siiuation  for  the  operation 
of  suggestion  is  present.  Ritual  and  religion  would  crowd  all  else 
from  the  focus  of  attention  to  the  fringe  of  consciousness.  Atone- 
ment, absolution,  expiatory  sacrifice,  would  hold  the  center. 

In  the  fifth  century,  with  the  return  of  the  Jews  to  Jerusalem, 
the  evolution  was  complete.  Under  the  protection  of  the  Persian 
government.  Nehemiah  introduced  the  law  or  Torah.  Thereby  the 
will  of  Jail  we  was  accepted  as  reduced  to  writing,  and  the  Torah 

^Charles  Foster  Kent,  A  History  of  the  Jcxcish  People  ( N'cw  ^'<)rk,  iRom1. 
P-  93- 

»/b.(/.,  p.  95- 


72  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF   RITUALISM 

became  strictly  regulative.  From  now  on  the  Jews  had  a  book 
religion ;  they  were  under  the  yoke  of  the  law.  The  individual  was 
not  supposed  to  think  for  himself  and  by  so  doing  to  determine 
right  and  wrong  conduct.  The  Torah  was  proclaimed  to  be  a 
perfect  and  complete  revelation,  and  matters  of  conduct  were  de- 
,cided  by  reference  to  it.  Legal  rather  than  ethical  conduct  was 
thus  attained.  Jewish  life,  as  anyone  can  easily  see  for  himself  by 
reading  Leviticus,  Numbers,  and  Deuteronomy,  was  limited  on 
every  hand  by  ritual.  In  all  this  such  conceptions  as  sin,  unclean- 
ness,  atonement,  stood  out  in  proportion  far  beyond  all  else. 

The  fundamental  notion  upon  which  the  ceremonial  law  was 
based  is  that  in  the  domain  of  Israel,  Jahwe's  own  people,  every- 
thing without  exception  belonged  and  was  thus  consecrated  to  him 
alone.  This  held  good,  accordingly,  of  all  space  and  time  and  of 
all  property  and  life.-''  Had  this  thought  been  carried  out  to  its 
logical  consequences,  it  would  have  meant  that  all  life  should  be 
brought  to  Jahwe  in  sacrifice,  and  thereby  the  continued  existence 
of  Israel  woud  have  been  made  impossible.  In  the  Torah,  Jahwe 
ordained  that  only  a  portion  be  given  to  him,  but  by  this  due 
(terumah)  symbolical  expression  was  given  to  the  confession  that 
Jahwe  was  lord  of  everything.  E.  Kautzsch  has  traced  out  this 
situation  with  reference  to  holy  places,  holy  times,  holy  persons, 
and  the  hallowed  character  of  Israel's  things.-^  Under  the  last 
the  life  of  each  individual  was  included. 

The  sacrificial  system  with  its  sacred  history  took  the  central 
place  in  the  Torah.  Of  sacrifice  there  were  three  kinds :  the  burnt- 
ofifering,  the  peace-offering,  and  the  piacular  sacrifice.  The  under- 
lying thought  was.  that  for  all  the  blessings  of  life  man  should  be 
grateful  to  Jahwe  who  gave  them,  and  that,  where  the  good  will 
of  the  deity  had  departed  from  the  individual  because  of  trans- 
gression of  the  divine  laws,  the  individual  should  give  his  very 
best  to  bring  about  a  renewal  of  the  covenant  fellowship  with  his 
God.  The  Levitical  system  assigned  the  greatest  importance  to 
the  piacular  sacrifice.    This  was  preceded 

by  a  verbal  confession  of  guilt,  uttered  by  the  worshiper  leaning  upon  the 
victim's  head.  The  chief  feature,  however,  was  the  ceremonial  sprinkling 
of  the  blood  at  the  spots  to  which  belonged  different  degrees  of  sanctity, 

""  E.  Kautzsch,  "The  Religion  of  Israel,"  art.  in  Hastings'  Dictionary  of  the 
Bible  (extra  vol.;   New  York,   1904),  p.  716. 
'"Ibid.,  pp.   717   f. 


DEVELOPMENT    OF   THE   RITUAL   ILLUSTFL\TED  73 

implying  different  stages  of  nearness  to  God In  the  case  of  the  sin 

offering,  it  was  solemnly  sprinkled  either  on  the  horns  of  the  altar  or 
(when  carried  into  the  ''Holy  of  Holies"  on  the  Day  of  Atonement)  upon 
and  before  the  mercy  scat The  offender  relied  for  renewal  of  cove- 
nant fellowship  with  God  on  the  blood  (i.e.  on  the  life)  of  the  victim 
which  Jahveh  accepted  as  substitute  for  the  life  of  the  offerer.'" 

The  social  consciotisness  out  of  which  such  rituals  emerged  was 
radically  different  from  that  of  the  nomadic  and  peasant  religions. 
The  sense  of  sin  and  guilt  was  everywhere  in  evidence.  The  deity, 
far  from  being  an  ancestor,  was  a  powerful  god  so  much  to  be 
feared  that  his  name  must  not  be  spoken.  The  most  that  the  indi- 
vidual and  the  community  could  hope  for  was  to  secure  and  Imld 
his  good  will  by  sacrificing  according  to  the  method  prescribed  by 
himself. 

When  a  religion  becomes  stereotyped  in  laws  reduced  to  writing 
and  regarded  as  strictly  regulative,  changes  take  place  very  slowly, 
if  at  all.  Within  the  religion  itself  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  pass| 
into  anything  higher.  The  laws  are  so  apt  to  have  a  restraining 
influence  upon  the  development  of  a  higher  type  of  social  con- 
sciousness that  nothing  but  force  of  circumstances  can  bring  about 
any  change  whatever.  This  is  precisely  the  condition  in  which  the 
Jews  were  and  are  with  their  legal  religion.  Their  religion  today 
testifies  to  the  powerful  influence  of  the  Torah.  In  case  an  influ- 
ential individual  breaks  away  from  the  formalism  of  the  prescribed 
religion  and  gathers  a  group  of  disciples  about  him.  reform  and 
change  may  take  place  in  spite  of  legalism. 

Such  an  individual  was  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  His  so-called  Ser- 
mon on  the  ]\Iount  and  other  declarations  show  him  forth  as  radi- 
cally opposed  to  the  petty  regulations  of  the  law.  He  seized  upon 
the  prophetic  movement  and  emphasized  love,  righteousness,  and 
purity,  as  over  against  a  ritualistic  religion.  "Be  ye  therefore 
perfect  even  as  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  is  perfect."-®  For 
him  God  was  a  kind  and  beneficent  father  who  "makcth  his  sun 
to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the  just 
and  on  the  unjust,"^"  and  who  is  "kind  unto  the  unthankful  and 
gyjl  "31     'pi^g  greatest  of  all  commandments,  those  on   which   the 

-*  R.  L.  Ottlcy,  Tlie  Religion  of  Israel  (Cambridge,  1905),  p.  14J. 

=»Matt.  5:48. 

"Matt.  5:45.  "Luke  6:35. 


74  THE   PSYCHOLOGY  OF   RITUALISM 

Law  and  the  Prophets  hang,  are,  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy 
God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul  and  with  all  thy 
mind,"  and  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  The  work 
of  Jesus  was  in  the  direction  of  completely  socializing  God,  and 
placing  this  God  as  the  ideal  which  man  should  strive  to  realize. 

On  the  night  before  his  crucifixion,  Jesus  ate  a  meal  with  his 
twelve  disciples  in  a  room  in  Jerusalem.  At  this  his  last  meal  with 
them,  knowing  that  the  crisis  was  at  hand,  he  "took  bread,  and 
gave  thanks,  and  brake  it,  and  gave  unto  them  saying.  This  is  my 
body  which  is  given  for  you :  this  do  in  remembrance  of  me."^- 
That  in  this  act  he  wished  to  institute  a  ceremony  like  the  present 
Lord's  Supper  is  not  at  all  clear,  especially  when  we  remember  his 
anti-ritualistic  attitude;  but  that  it  resulted  in  the  sacrament  is 
generally  conceded.  Harnack  holds  that  "Jesus  instituted  a  meal 
to  commemorate  his  death. "^^ 

It  is  probable  that  in  the  early  days  of  Christianity  every  meal 
at  which  Christians  met  was  hallowed'  by  eucharistic  acts,^*  In 
these  times  a  solemn  remembrance  of  the  death  of  Jesus  and  the 
interpretation  of  that  death  as  sacrificial  were  the  chief  things  in 
the  eucharistic  act.f  This  would  indicate  that  the  chief  reference,  in 
addition  to  the  immediate  one  of  the  death  of  Jesus,  was  backward 
to  the  sacrificial  element  in  the  legal  religion.  Jesus  was  viewed 
as  the  great  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world.  It  is  but 
natural  that  with  the  sacrificial  system  still  in  vogue  in  the  temple, 
the  death  of  Jesus  should  be  related  in  some  way  to  the  sacrificial 
act.  In  so  far,  then,  as  the  conception  of  an  angry  God  had  not 
been  outgrown,  a  sacrifice  of  that  kind  seemed  natural ;  on  the 
other  hand,  in  so  far  as  this  God  was  a  real  father,  he  had  sent  his 
own  son  to  consummate  the  salvation.  The  situation  is,  of  course, 
paradoxical,  and  shows  that  the  God  had  not  yet  become  fully 
socialized. 

At  first,  the  eucharistic  act  and  the  Agape  were  held  together. 
There  was  probably  a  daily  celebration  of  both.^^    We  may  consider 

*"  Luke  22  :  19,  20. 

^^  G.  Wanchope  Stewart,  "Harnack,  Jiilicher  and  Spitta  on  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per," Expositor   (Fifth   Series),  III,  43-61,  86-102;  see  p.  48. 

*'J.  A.  Robinson,  "Eucharist,"  art.  in  Encyclopaedia  Biblica  (New  York, 
1901),  II,  col.  1424. 

'^"Lord's  Supper,"  art.  in  Cyclopedia  of  Biblical,  Theological  and  Eccle- 
siastical Literature  (New  York,  1891),  V,  511. 


DEVELOPMENT    OF   TTIE    RITUAL   ILLUSTRATED  75 

it  simply  as  a  common  meal  with  emphasis  upon  it  as  love  feast 
and  Eucharist.  Tlie  Agape  was  not  really  a  vital  element  in  the 
eucharistic  act;  either  could  exist  without  the  other.  As  early  as 
the  time  of  Paul  the  two  hegan  to  be  separated.  The  Agape  became 
more  and  more  localized.  Evil  results  were  seen  to  come  out  of 
it.  Discouraged  by  bishops  and  forbidden  by  councils,  it  died  out 
almost  entirely.  The  Lord's  Supper  also  underwent  changes.  New 
names — Eucharist,  Sacrifice,  Altar,  Mass,  Holy  Mysteries — gath- 
ered around  it,  and  new  acts  were  added  to  the  rite.  The  celebra- 
tion at  the  high  altar  of  a  basilica  in  the  fourth  century  was  so 
different  from  the  original  institution  that  it  was  difficult  to  recog- 
nize common  elements. 

J.  A.  ?klagni  has  published  an  article  on  the  "Ethnological 
Background  of  the  Eucharist"''*"'  in  which  he  takes  the  stand  that 
Christianity  is  a  marvelous  synthesis  of  Semitic,  Greek,  and  possi- 
bly Indian  thought.''  It  would  be  passing  strange,  he  thinks,  if 
the  mystery  cults  in  vogue  when  Christianity  was  born  and 
characterized  by  the  eucharistic  act  had  not  been  at  least  in 
part  adopted  by  the  Christians.  Hatch  has  also  called  attention 
to  the  influence  of  the  Greek  mysteries  on  the  Lord's  Supper."* 
The  whole  is,  of  course,  an  excellent  example  of  the  subtle 
influence  of  suggestion.  Men  cannot  intermingle  as  the  early 
Christians  did  w'ith  other  nations  without  being  profoundly  influ- 
enced. The  Eucharist  in  its  more  developed  forms  has  not 
only  a  reference  back  to  Semitic  sacrifice;  it  is  an  expression 
of  contemporaneous  attitudes  common  to  the  peoples  concerned. 
It  is  not  necessary  for  a  rational  explanation  to  go  to  the  extreme 
to  which  Percy  Gardner  has  gone  in  his  book,  The  Origin  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  (London,  1893),  when  he  aserts  that  Paul  be- 
came the  real  originator  of  the  rite  by  turning  a  pagan  cere- 
mony   to   Christian    use.""      Social    psychology    is    satisfied    when 

^'^  American  Journal  of  Religious  Psychology  and  Education,  IV  ( Xo.  i-:;). 
March,  1910. 

"Ibid.,  p.  10. 

^  Edwin  Hatch,  The  Influence  of  Greek  Ideas  and  Usages  upon  the  Chris- 
tian Church   (London,   1891),  pp.  300  f. 

^  R.  R.  Falconer,  "Lord's  Supper,"  art.  in  Hastings'  Dictionary  of  Christ 
and  the  Gospels  (New  York,  1908),  II,  64;  J.  A.  Magni,  "The  Ethnologioal 
Background  of  the  Eucharist,"  American  Journal  of  Religious  Psychology  and 
Education,  IV   (No.  1-2),  23. 


76  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RITUALISM 

it  has  shown  that  the  particular  rite  is  an  overt  expression  of  the 
social  consciousness  of  the  group  concerned.  The  simple  fact  that 
"the  Mithraic  sacrament  consisted  of  elements  bread  and  wine"**' 
would  tend  to  give  these  elements  in  the  Lord's  Supper  added 
value.  The  interpretation  of  one  sacrament  would  naturally  affect 
the  other.  The  point  of  importance  for  our  study  is  that  in  the 
course  of  time  the  simple  meal  instituted  by  Jesus  in  commemora- 
tion of  his  death  and  celebrated  as  such  by  the  early  Christian 
church  became  an  elaborate  rite  with  Semitic,  Greek,  Mithraic, 
and  doubtless  other  elements  in  it.  The  simple  rite  and  the  public 
teaching  of  the  early  church  have  given  way  to  mysteries  and 
"doctrines  which  must  not  be  declared  in  the  hearing  of  the 
uninitiated."*^ 

Hatch  gives  the  following  description  of  the  Eucharist  taken 
from  Dionysius  Areopagites : 

"AH  other  initiations  are  incomplete  without  this.  The  consummation 
and  crown  of  all  the  rest  is  the  participation  of  him  who  is  initiated  in  the 
thearchic  mysteries.  For  though  it  be  the  common  characteristic  of  all 
the  hierarchic  acts  to  make  the  initiated  partakers  of  the  divine  light,  yet 
this  alone  imparted  to  me  the  vision  through  whose  mystic  light,  as  it  were, 
I  am  guided  to  the  contemplation  of  the  other  sacred  things."  The  ritual 
is  then  described.  The  sacred  bread  and  the  cup  of  blessing  are  placed 
upon  the  altar.  'Then  the  sacred  hierarch  initiates  the  sacred  prayer  and 
announces  to  all  the  holy  place :  and  after  all  have  saluted  each  other,  the 
mystic  recital  of  the  sacred  lists  is  completed.  The  hierarch  and  the  priests 
wash  their  hands  in  water;  he  stands  in  the  midst  of  the  divine  altar,  and 
around  him  stand  the  priests  and  the  chosen  ministers.  The  hierarch  sings  the 
praises  of  the  divine  working  and  consecrates  the  most  divine  mysteries, 
and  by  means  of  the  symbols  which  are  sacredly  set  forth,  he  brings  into 
open  vision  the  things  of  which  he  sings  the  praises.  And  when  he  has 
shown  the  gifts  of  the  divine  working,  he  himself  comes  into  a  sacred  com- 
munion with  them,  and  then  invites  the  rest.  And  having  both  partaken 
and  given  to  the  others  a  share  in  the  thearchic  communion,  he  ends  with  a 
sacred  thanksgiving ;  and  while  the  people  bend  over  what  are  divine  sym- 
bols only,  he  himself,,  always  by  the  thearchic-spirit,  is  led  in  a  priestly 
manner,  in  purity  of  his  godlike  frame  of  mind,  through  blessed  and  spiritual 
contemplation,''"  to  the  holy  realities  of  the  mysteries."*^ 

*"  J.  A.  Magni,  op.  cit.,  p.  13.  "  Hatch,  op.  cit.,  p.  293. 

■*-  Due  doubtless  to  neo-Platonic  influence. 

*^  Hatch,  op.  cit. J  pp.  303  f.  His  description  is  taken  from  Dionysius  Areopa- 
gites, Eccles.  Hicr.  C.  3,  par.  i,  §§  r,  2,  pp.  187  f. 


'    DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE    RITUAL   ILLUSTRATED  77 

Such  a  profound  change  in  a  simple  ritual  is  explicable  only  on 
the  ground  that  the  underlying  social  consciousness  has  changed. 
If  our  thesis  is  correct,  the  change  in  the  rite  is  due  to  the  change 
in  the  social  consciousness,  and  without  the  latter  the  former  would 
not  have  taken  place. 

We  shall  not  attempt  to  describe  all  the  changes  through  which 
the  Lord's  Supper  has  passed,  Iml  a  few  more  may  perhaps  be 
mentioned  with  profit.  It  is  clear  from  llie  description  given  above 
that  the  celebration  of  the  Eucharist  was  becoming  a  more  and 
more  sacred  matter.  The  bread  and  the  cup  were  gradually  becom- 
ing more  mysterious.  An  emotional  value  attacheil  to  them  whicli 
was  sure  to  find  overt  expression.  The  simple  meal  instituted  by 
Jesus  which  every  one  of  his  disciples  could  celebrate  was  invested 
with  such  sanctity,  abstracted  so  far  from  its  original  purpose,  and 
so  altered  in  form,  that  some  profound  change  in  doctrine  was 
inevitable.  The  consciousness  of  the  group  with  reference  to  the 
eucharistic  act  was  undergoing  a  gradual  change.  The  reason  for 
this  is  to  be  sought  not  only  in  the  first  contact  with  Greek  and 
Roman  culture,  but  also  in  the  later  influence  of  the  Barbarian 
invasion  and  the  spread  of  Christianity  over  Northern  Euroi)e. 
The  outcome  of  the  situation  was  the  dogma  of  transubstantiation. 

The  term  was  first  used  by  Ilildebert  of  Tours.  In  the  Decre- 
tum  Gratiani  (about  1150),  it  was  adopted  in  full,  and  the  fourth 
Council  of  Lateran  declared  it  an  article  of  faith.  According  to  the 
doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  the  bread  and  the  cup  were  no 
longer  mere  symbols  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  Once  con- 
secrated, they  were  the  body  and  the  blood  of  Christ.  They  were 
believed  to  exert  a  mysterious  influence  upon  him  who  ate  them. 
We  have  here  a  reversion  to  a  most  primitive  conception — the 
eating  of  the  god  in  order  to  become  possessed  of  his  virtues,  or  in 
other  words  communion  through  eating  of  the  deity.  The  under- 
lying idea  is  no  less  naive  than  that  at  the  root  of  the  primitive 
Semitic  sacrifice.  In  so  far  as  this  view  is  held  by  individuals  of 
the  present  day,  it  indicates  now,  as  it  did  then,  a  survival  or 
recrudescence  of  a  primitive  social  consciousness. 

That  such  a  crude  conception  would  continue  to  exist  in  the 
long  run  without  being  challenged  is  inconceivable,  especially  in  an 
age  in  which  men  were  philosophizing  on  all  sorts  of  problems. 
Subtle  questions  soon  arose,  such  for  instance  as,  "Do  animals 
partake  of  the  body  of  Christ  when  they  swallow  the  consecrated 
host?"     Such  discussions  were  but  foreboding  what  was  to  follow. 


78  THE   PSYCHOLOGY  OF   RITUALISM 

The  Reformation  brought  men  face  to  face  with  the  irrationahty 
of  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  and  resuUed  in  a  general 
reconstruction  of  rehgious  concepts.  New  foundations  were  laid. 
The  Continental  reformers  were  of  one  mind  in  repudiating  the 
Roman  doctrine  of  transubstantiation.  They  were  not  agreed 
among  themselves  as  to  what  interpretation  should  be  given,  but 
they  were  certain  that  the  pretended  transubstantiation  immedi- 
ately after  the  Epiclesis  did  not  actually  take  place.  The  Reforma- 
tion, by  its  emphasis  on  freedom  from  the  Roman  hierarchy,  gave 
a  great  stimulus  to  the  rationalization  of  religion  and  morals.  The 
simplification  of  the  elaborate  ritual  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church 
was  one  of  its  immediate  efifects.  This  return  to  greater  simplicity 
shows  clearly  that  the  idea  which  the  Roman  Catholic  has  of  God 
is  quite  different  from  that  of  the  so-called  Protestant.  A  good 
Catholic  cannot  become  a  thorough  Protestant  without  undergoing 
a  profound  change  of  social  consciousness  and  vice  versa. 

During  the  past  few  hundred  years  great  advance  has  been 
made  in  science,  with  the  result  that  many  old  beliefs  have  been 
overthrown  and  replaced  by  modern  concepts.  The  science  of 
bacteriology  has  modified  to  a  great  extent  the  conception  of  the 
mutual  relation  between  man  and  man.  With  the  discovery  of 
the  fact  that  infectious  diseases  are  readily  transmitted  from  indi- 
vidual to  individual  through  bacilli  of  various  kinds,  the  Lord's 
Supper  has  become  a  recognized  source  of  danger.  As  a  result,  the 
common  cup  has  been  superseded  by  the  individual  cup,  except  in 
places  where  the  group  has  not  awakened  to  the  situation. 

The  danger  of  infection  alone  has  kept  many  from  the  Lord's 
Supper.  When  to  this  we  add  the  effect  of  the  scientific  attitude  in 
dispelling  naivete  and  superstition,  we  realize  that  this  rite  can  be 
preserved  in  the  face  of  such  facts  only  by  giving  it  an  interpreta- 
tion in  higher  social  terms.  Of  course,  in  groups  that  are  still  liv- 
ing on  the  old  plane  the  old  rite  will  continue  to  exist  in  the  old 
manner.  The  sine  qua  non  of  further  development  is  a  real  change 
in  the  social  consciousness. 

Herewith  we  close  the  discussion  of  the  development  of  ritual- 
ism. The  various  rituals  are  the  result  of  man's  efforts  to  meet  the 
elemental  needs  of  life.  They  have  their  origin  in  some  incident 
or  crisis.  The  successful  act  becomes  group  habit,  and  thereby 
ceremony.  Development  takes  place  only  with  the  changing  social 
consciousness  of  the  group  concerned.  Of  this  latter  fact  the 
present  chapter  has  given  ample  evidence. 


PART  III 

SURVIVAL  OF  RITUALISM 

"After  all,  the  kind  of  world  one  carries  about  in  one's  self  is  the  important 
thing,  and  the  world  outside  takes  all  its  grace,  color  and  value  from  that." — ■ 
James  Russell  Lowell. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  SURVIVAL  OF  THE  CEREMONY 

In  tracing  the  development  of  ritualism  we  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  changes  in  the  ritual  are  dependent  ui^on  changes 
within  the  social  consciousness,  and  that  without  changes  in  the 
social  consciousness  no  profound  changes  in  the  ritual  are  pos- 
sible. The  survival  of  ritualism,  then,  speaking  in  a  very  general 
sense,  is  dependent  upon  keeping  intact  a  type  of  social  conscious- 
ness that  finds  the  ritualistic  reaction!  a  valuable  method  of  con- 
trol. To  be  more  specific — just  this  is  the  object  of  the  present 
chapter — the  rituals  survive  because  they  meet  the  needs  of  the 
group  and  of  the  individuals  of  the  group  in  a  satisfactory  way. 
In  case  they  fail  to  mediate  these  results  for  the  individual,  he 
ceases  to  participate  unless  external  factors  are  brought  to  bear 
upon  him.  Likewise  in  the  case  of  the  group,  ceremonial  perform- j 
ances  that  have  lost  their  practical  significance,  though  they  may 
continue  for  a  while  through  sheer  force  of  habit,  soon  lose  their 
vitality  and  fall  away. 

In  contrast  to  primitive  conditions,  modern  civilized  society  is 
so   organized    that    considerable    latitude    is    given    to    individuals 
According  to  their  own  preferences  they  may  affiliate  themselves 
with  the  particular  organizations  that  seem  to  them  best  adapted 
to  meet  their  needs.     In  this  the  influence  of  previous  training  isl 
powerfully  operative  through  suggestion,  but  deliberate  choice  is' 
also  present  as  a  factor.     Groups  with  very  primitive  standards 
are  not  only  progressively  maintained  in  this  way,  but  new  onesi 
are  often  formed.     For  example,  the  writer,  in  an  investigation  of* 
the  gift  of  tongues  and  related  phenomena'   found  that  the  auto- 
matic   experience    called    tongue-speaking    became    the    basis    of 
forming  various  affiliated  groups  in  tlie  city  of  Chicago. 

The  thing  that  seems  practical  to  one  individual  may  appear 
ludicrous  to  another.  Methods  that  mediate  adecjuate  control  in 
one  group  may  utterly  fail  in  another.  In  some  individuals,  the 
instinct  of  self-display  becomes  a  tremendous  practical  interest. 
Anything  that  appeals  to  their  egotism  receives  their  support  and 

'  Vide  "The  Gift  of  Tongues  and  Related  Phenomena  at  the  Present  Pay." 
American  Journal  of  Theology   (April,   1909). 

81 


82  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF   RITUALISM 

most  hearty  indorsement.  Decorations  of  gold,  lace,  and  feathers, 
the  uniform  with  flashing  buttons,  the  music  and  march  of  the  ritual 
are  just  the  things  they  need.  Without  this  display  life  would 
seem  incomplete.  In  contrast  to  this,  other  persons  glory  in  self- 
abasement.  To  the  question  of  the  baptism  ritual,  "Dost  thou 
renounce  the  devil  and  all  his  works,  the  vain  pomp  and  glory  of 
the  world  with  all  covetous  desires  of  the  same,  and  the  carnal 
desires  of  the  flesh  so  that  thou  wilt  not  follow  nor  be  led  by 
them?"-  they  respond  with  a  hearty,  "I  renounce  them  all."  Indi- 
viduals of  this  type  consider  display  the  very  essence  of  evil.  They 
prefer  rituals  which  apply  rigorous  tests  of  self-abasement.  The 
writer  has  known  of  cases  in  which  individuals  have  not  stopped 
short  of  having  a  hole  made  through  ice  nearly  two  feet  thick 
and  of  being  immersed  in  a  lake  of  ice-water  in  the  dead  of  winter. 
The  point  that  needs  emphasis  is  that  the  social  consciousness 
varies  with  different  groups,  and  that  modern  life  has  present  in  it 
not  only  the  conservative  factors  of  social  heredity,  group  educa- 
tion and  training  so  powerful  among  savages,  but  the  additional 
possibility  of  choice  between  various  groups.  In  this  way  modern 
society  has  room  both  for  the  continuance  of  old  ceremonies  and 
for  the  survival  of  ritualism  in  new — some  better  and  some  more 
poorly  adapted — cults.  Practicality  is,  withal,  the  key  word  to  the 
situation.  The  ritual  that  has  lost  its  vitality  cannot  survive. 
When  the  group  apperceives  its  inanity,  it  is  discarded.  This  may 
take  place  in  a  cataclysmic  way,  but  more  commonly,  owing  to  the 
power  of  habit,  it  is  a  gradual  process. 

The  rituals  may  also  lose  of  their  vitality  through  the  differen- 
tiation of  elements  which  have  acquired  values  in  their  own  right. 
Two  obvious  examples  of  this  are  decorations  and  music.  In 
primitive  man's  rituals  they  were  vital  to  the  ceremony  and  repre- 
sented no  value  in  and  of  themselves.  They  did  not  arise  to  satisfy 
an  already  existing  love  of  beauty  but  were  an  essential  factor  in 
practical  control.  Art  production  was  prior  to  art  appreciation,  and 
was  its  cause  rather  than  its  effect.^  Since  the  totemic  ceremonies 
of  the  Central  Australians  are  probably  as  primitive  as  any  now 
extant,  they  are  especially  adapted  to  illustrate  the  point.     The 

^  The  Doctrines  and  Discipline  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  igo8 
(New  York,  1908). 

'James  Hayden  Tufts,  On  the  Genesis  of  the  Aesthetic  Categories  (The  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago  Press,   1902),  p.  6. 


SURVIVAL    OF    THE    CEREMONY  S^ 

decorations  employed  in  these  instances,  as  we  have  shown  in  the 
first  chapter,  represent  situations  out  of  the  Hves  of  the  natives 
and  are  introduced  into  the  ceremony  from  practical  motives.  The 
decorations  and  the  ceremony  grow  up  together.  Decorations  are 
valuable  because  they  are  a  part  of  the  ceremony,  and  are  not  pro- 
duced from  sheer  love  of  the  beautiful.  In  so  far  as  every  activity 
of  primitive  life  was  ritualized,  we  are  justified  in  saying  that 
decorative  art  had  no  real  place  in  life  apart  irom  the  ceremony. 
The  same  is  true  in  the  case  of  music.  The  chant  of  the  L'njiaml)a 
Totem  Intichiuma  ceremony  was  simply  "a  reiterated  invitation  to 
the  Unjiamba  tree  to  flower  much,  and  to  the  blossoms  to  be  full 
of  honey."*  The  music  (in  genesis  at  least)  here  is  also  a  i)art  of 
the  ceremony  and  has  value  only  as  having  a  place  in  practical 
control. 

When,  however,  decorative  art  and  music  are  appreciated  ijua 
decorations  and  music,  when  they  begin  to  have  a  value  inde- 
pendent of  th^  ceremony,  when  the  group  or  the  individuals  of  the 
group  enjoy  them  and  produce  them  apart  from  the  ceremony,  the  | 
way  is  opened  for  their  separation  from  the  ritual  and  for  progres- 1 
sive  development  in  their  own  right.  Their  value  is  no  longer 
immediate  and  essential  to  the  very  upkeep  of  life.  It  has  become 
highly  idealized  and  occupies  a  field  of  its  own. 

At  this  point  the  question  is  o  propos  as  to  whether  modern 
rituals  survive  by  virtue  of  the  fact  that  they  have  reabsorbed  o« 
developed  aesthetic  values  of  recognized  quality  in  sufficient  num- 
ber. In  that  case  the  value  of  the  ceremony  would  have  shifted 
from  the  realm  of  the  practical  to  that  of  the  distinctively  aesthetic. 
and  the  group  would  attend  the  performance  of  the  ceremony — 
High  Mass.  for  instance,  or  the  Lord's  Supper  in  any  evangelical 
church — from  motives  similar  to  those  from  which  it  attends  a  con- 
cert or  a  drama.  We  are  not  incjuiring  as  to  whether  the  aesthetic 
experience  has  a  place  in  ritualistic  observances.  Miss  Adams  has 
shown  that,  if  human  experience  be  regarded  as  "a  continuous 
series  of  attempted  or  achieved  modes  of  control  of  behavior."  the 
feeling  of  satisfaction  that  accompanies  attempted  control  and  the 
"pause  of  satisfaction"  that  marks  achieved  control  constitute  the 
essence  of  the  aesthetic  experience.'     Since,  as  we  have  repeatedly 

*The  Native   Tribes  of  Central  Australia,  p.    184. 

'Elizabeth  Kemper  Adams.  The  Aesthetic  Experience:  Its  Meaning  in  a 
Functional  Psychology   (The  University  of  ChicaRO   Press.    1907). 


84  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   RITUALISM 

pointed  out,  the  rituals  are  methods  of  controlling  human  experi- 
ence, it  is  obvious  that  in  the  larger  sense  of  the  word  the  aesthetic 
experience  is  a  concomitant  of  successful  participation  in  the  ritual- 
istic act.  The  rite  is  performed ;  control  is  achieved ;  the  partici- 
pants rest  satisfied. 

The  real  question  is :  Do  any  modern  rituals  survive,  not  be- 
cause they  are  thought  to  be  practical,  but  solely  because  of  the  aes- 
thetic experience  accompanying  their  performance?  To  the  writer 
the  evidence  so  far  collected  by  scholars,  and  the  observations  made 
by  himself,  seem  to  indicate  that  religious  ceremonies  are  per- 
formed and  services  attended  not  primarily  for  the  aesthetic  effect, 
but  largely  from  practical  motives.  The  aesthetic  may  strengthen 
the  appreciation  of  the  practical,  but  the  energizing  impulses  are, 
as  of  old,  the  instinctive  tendencies  to  maintain  life,  though,  of 
course,  with  greater  elaboration  and  idealization.^  "There  is 
developing  a  consciousness  within  whole  nations  and  within  man- 
kind as  a  world-wide  family  and  brotherhood,  the  inner,  controlling 
imotive  of  which  is  the  elemental  craving  for  life,  but  for  a  life 
/richer  and  fuller  and  longer,  in  which  all  men  ever}  where  may 
[share. "'  Such  a  type  of  consciousness  may  well  appear,  though 
'not  necessarily  universally,  in  the  modern  religious  ceremony.  But 
this  implies  that  the  ritual  is  still  considered  a  practical  method  of 
,  control. 

I  Hylan's  investigation  by  means  of  two  questionnaires  has  pro- 
duced results  in  substantial  harmony  with  our  conclusions  on  the 
point.    He  writes  as  follows : 

Combining  the  answers  to  both  questionnaires,  the  reasons  for  going 
[to  church]  were  as  follows:  Personal  good  was  mentioned  173  times; 
dut}-  140;  example  "j"/ \  habit  67;  because  of  enjoyment  30;  church  society 
14;  because  normal  function  10;  for  music  10;  fellowship  8;  to  keep  alive 
religiously  5;  rest  4;  because  it  is  the  proper  thing  4;  for  variety  4;  to 
learn  3 :  love  of  God  3 ;  expected  to  go  3 :  opportunity  for  service  2 

It  would  be  safe  therefore  to  say  that,  according  to  these  answers,  the 
feeling  of  moral  responsibility  gives  the  strongest  impulse  to  worship,  and 
that  the  hope  of  resulting  good  to  one's  self  or  others  is  the  rnost  tangrole 
reason.* 

'  Edward    Scribner    Ames,    "The    Psychological    Basis    of    Religion,"    Mouist, 
XX  (No.  2),  254- 
''Ibid.,  p.   262. 
*John  P.   Hylan,  Public   Worship   (Chicago,   1901),  pp.  46   f. 


SURVIVAL   OF   THE   CEREMONY  85 

As  the  persons  who  submitted  answers  to  Hvlan's  questionnaire 
belonged  to  the  Presbyterian,  Methodist,  Baptist,  Episcopahan, 
Congregational,  Roman  CathoHc,  Dutch  Reformed,  Universahst. 
Christian,  Lutheran,  and  a  few  other  denominations,"  and  only  a 
small  number  had  no  creed,  we  may  infer  that  some  type  of  ritual- 
ism (not  the  same,  of  course)  was  pretty  generally  represented.  A 
glance  at  the  reasons  for  attendance  at  worship  and  figures  repre- 
senting answers  given  shows  that  liylan  is  entirely  correct  in  his 
estimate  that  the  desire  for  good  to  oneself  and  to  others  is  the 
most  tangible  reason  for  going  to  church  ;  and.  we  may  add,  for 
religious  practices  generally,  including  ceremonies.  While  doubt- 
less certain  individuals,  especially  in  isolated  rural  communities, 
attend  services  me'rely  for  the  sake  of  enjoyment — that  is,  for 
aesthetic  effect — the  number  is  so  small  that  it  does  not  seem  prob- 
able that  they  would  keep  up  the  rituals ;  and  the  more  as  this  type 
of  consciousness  seeks  variety  rather  than  the  uniformity  of  ritual. 

James  H.  Leuba's  investigation  on  "The  Contents  of  Religious 
Consciousness"^*^  also  brought  results  confirmatory  of  our  thesis. 
The  inquiry  was  made  by  means  of  a  questionnaire  sent  to  Protes- 
tant Anglo-Saxons.  Some  of  the  questions  inquired  into  the 
reasons  for  religious  practices.  They  thus  covered  a  wider  field 
than  mere  ritualistic  practices,  but  necessarily  also  included  the 
latter.  Out  of  the  replies  received,  Leuba  felt  himself  justified  in 
drawing  the  conclusion  that  "life,  more  life,  a  larger,  richer,  more 
satisfying  life,"  was  the  real  thing  sought  in  religion.  His  corre- 
spondents testified  that  they  used  God.  ''He  is  used,"  writes  Leuba. 
"used  a  good  deal  and  with  an  admirable  disregard  of  logical 
consistency,  sometimes  as  meat  purveyor,  sometimes  as  moral  sup- 
port, sometimes  as  friend,  sometimes  as  an  object  of  love."" 

To  the  above  we  may  without  any  hesitation  add  that  if  Leuba 
found  this  true  of  Protestants,  it  is  at  least  to  the  same  degree  true 
of  Catholics.  The  devout  Catholic  does  not  attend  mass  specifically 
for  the  aesthetic  effect.  He  is  looking  for  something  that  will  be  of 
practical  benefit  to  him.  He  wishes  to  make  use  of  his  God.  His 
everything  depends  upon  being  on  good  terms  with  him.  An  inci- 
dent in  striking  corroboration  of  this  was  related  to  the  writer  by 

*  Ibid.,  pp.   12   f. 

^' James    H.    Leuba.    "The    Contents    of    Religious    CoBSciousness."    Monist. 

XI,  536-73. 

"/birf..  p.  5-1- 


86  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RITUALISM 

one  of  the  deputy  sheriffs  of  Cook  County,  Illinois.  An  Italian 
Catholic  had  murdered  a  Swede  and  was  arrested  by  the  deputy 
sheriff.  On  the  way  to  the  jail  he  asserted  with  great  confidence 
that  his  God  would  help  him  in  his  trouble  and  prevent  his  being 
hanged.  In  return  for  more  or  less  faithful  observance  of  the  ritual 
he  expected  the  deity  to  deliver  him  out  of  his  difficulty. 

What  is  true  of  church  ceremonies  holds  also  with  reference  to 
those  of  modern  fraternal  organizations.  The  pronounced  object 
of  such  associations  is  the  nurture  of  more  intimate  fellowship  and 
the  rendering  of  mutual  assistance  in  time  of  need.  They  are  not 
organizations  primarily  in  the  interest  of  so-called  play-activities 
or  for  aesthetic  enjoyment.  Men  and  women  join  them  largely 
from  practical  motives.  Witness,  for  instance,  the  insurance  inter- 
ests connected  with  some  of  the  orders,  the  motto,  "Friendship,  Love 
and  Truth,"  of  one  that  is  very  popular,  and  the  promise  of  mutual 
help  in  time  of  trouble  common  to  most,  if  not  all,  of  them.  The 
initiation  ceremony  and  other  rituals  connected  with  them  survive 
because  they  are  found  to  be  a  practical  method  of  controlling  cer- 
tain aspects  of  the  order.  The  profound  emotional  effect  pro- 
duced upon  the  neophytes  continues  to  be  an  important  factor  in 
the  conservation  and  development  of  group  loyalty. 
/  We  have  shown  -that  elements  which  in  the  first  place  existed 
in  the  ritual  in  an  undifferentiated  state  may  become  differentiated 
and  exist  in  their  own  right ;  and  that  in  so  far  as  they  represent 
distinct  values  of  their  own  they  tend  to  disintegrate  the  ritual. 
It  was  in  this  way  that  the  aesthetic  categories  were  generated. 
We  found  reason  to  conclude  with  reference  to  music  and  deco- 
rative art  of  various  kinds — and  the  same  doubtless  holds  true  of 
art  in  general — that  they  are  not  the  chief  end  sought  by  the  group 
in  modern  rituals,  but  that,  as  of  old,  practical  motives  come  first. 

But  our  real  problem  still  remains  before  us.  In  the  sixth 
chapter  we  took  the  stand  that  the  emergence  of  the  scientific 
attitude,  the  recognized  emphasis  upon  individual  experience,  and 
the  attempt  to  socialize  the  world  of  social  objects  completely  also 
tend  to  destroy  the  value  of  the  ritual — that  is  to  say,  make  it 
appear  as  an  ineffective  medium  of  practical  control.  In  the  face 
of  the  fact  that  the  above-mentioned  elements  may  be  said  to  be 
characteristic  of  modern  civilization,  why  does  the  ritual  continue 
to  play  so  large  a  part  in  the  life  of  certain  groups?  We  may 
answer,  Because  the  type  of  social  consciousness  continues  which 


SURVIVAL   OF   THE   CEREMONY  87 

evaluates  it  highly.  But  tiiat  leaves  the  matter  entirely  too  general. 
Or  we  may  say  that  the  ritual  continues  because  it  seems  practical. 
But  that  is  superficial  psychology.  To  answer  the  (luestion  of  the 
survival  of  the  ceremony  in  addition  to  showing  the  above,  we 
must  probe  deeper  into  the  psychology  of  evaluation. 

To  begin  with,  we  need  constantly  to  keep  in  mind  that  the 
ritualistic  attitude  is  an  aspect  of  the  normal  functioning  of  human 
life.  It  represents  a  tendency  to  fall  back  on  habit.  We  have 
abundantly  shown  this  in  the  case  of  primitive  man.  but  it  is 
equally  applicable  to  higher  stages  of  culture.  Extemporary 
prayer,  which,  as  is  well  known,  is  to  take  the  place  of  the  form 
prescribed  in  liturgical  churches,  is  itself  in  constant  danger  of 
following  definite  grooves.  The  individual,  througli  frc<iucnt  rc\)c- 
tition,  becomes  familiar  with  a  particular  seciuence  of  thought  and 
says  his  prayer  as  automatically  as  though  he  were  reading  it  out 
of  a  prayer-book  for  the  thousandth  time.  The  churches  that 
started  out  with  a  lively  protest  against  the  dead  ritual  of  the 
liturgical  churches  have  manifested  a  constant  tendency  to  adopt 
definite  forms  of  worship.  We  may  with  propriety  speak  of  the 
ritual  of  non-liturgical  churches.  The  members  of  the  worshiping 
group  think  it  strange  when  the  regular  order  of  service  is  not 
adhered  to.  They  expect  the  singing  of  hymns,  the  prayer,  the 
anthem  by  the  choir,  the  announcements,  the  sermon,  and  whatso- 
ever else  there  may  be.  to  follow  the  habitual  order  and  adhere  to 
customary  usages.  Strange  though  it  may  appear,  revivalism 
itself  has  been  ritualized.  In  camp-meetings  and  revival  meetings 
the  methods  and  arrangement  of  services  are  the  same  year  after 
year,  and  the  group  consciousness  that  is  developed  at  these  gather- 
ings is  no  less  in  evidence  than  in  primitive  man's  great  ceremonial 
occasions. 

Whenever  a  change  is  to  take  place  in  habitual  conduct,  the 
odds  are  on  the  side  of  habit.  The  formation  of  new  habits  in- 
volves the  opening  of  new  nerve  pathways.  Since  the  rituals  are 
very  largely  controlled  by  individuals  who  are  past  those  years  when  /^ 

habits  are  most  easily  broken  and  new  ones  most  readily  fomied, 
it  follows  that  here  we  have  an  especially  difficult  situation  to 
change.  The  complexity  of  the  problem  is  but  increased  by  the 
fact  that  those  to  whom  the  care  of  the  ritual  is  given  in  each  suc- 
ceeding  generation  are  properly  constituted  conservatives.  In  this 
\    way  a  particular  type  of  social  consciousness  is  progressively  con-; 


88  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RITUALISM 

served  in  the  midst  of  a  thousand  and  one  changing  conditions. 
The  technique  involved  is  of  such  a  nature  that  it  is  next  to  im- 
possible for  the  scientific  attitude,  the  recognition  of  the  value  of 
individual  experience,  and  a  desire  for  a  complete  socialization  of 
the  deity  to  take  hold  of  the  group.  When  they  appear  to  be 
making  inroads,  the  conservatives  are  ever  ready  to  give  a  warning 
signal  and  bid  halt. 

I  This  brings  us  face  to  face  with  a  point  of  first  significance  in 
the  study  of  the  psychology  of  value.  The  self  is  always  charac- 
terized by  an  emotional  content.  There  may  be  cognitive  and  cona- 
live  elements  present  in  varying  degrees,  but  the  core  is  always 
[emotional.  This  means  that  in  last  analysis  the  self  in  each  par- 
jticular  instance  must  be  identified  with  an  emotion.  The  emotion 
jis  the  ultimate  court  of  reference.  When  the  individual  says, 
"My,"  with  any  consciousness  an  emotion  is  always  present.  But 
not  only  is  the  emotional  aspect  important  in  the  self ;  emotional 
elements  constitute  the  stuff  out  of  which  the  social  objects  of  the 
individual  are  constructed.  In  a  given  group  of  individuals,  any 
particular  individual's  consciousness  of  himself  is  at  bottom  emo- 
tional, and  all  the  members  of  his  group  are  built  up  by  him  out 
of  affective  elements  in  his  consciousness.  What  holds  true  of  any 
individuals  of  the  group  holds  true  of  the  group  as  a  whole.  The 
consciousness  which  an  individual  has  of  his  own  country,  or  his 
own  family,  is  characterized  by  an  entirely  different  content  from 
that  of  any  other  country  or  any  other  family.  There  is  a  warmth, 
an  intimacy  present  in  the  former  that  is  lacking  in  the  latter.  It  is 
a  well-known  fact  of  social  psychology  that  the  individual  when 
conscious  of  other  groups  tends  to  identify  himself  with  the  inter- 
ests of  his  own.  The  uninvited  outsider  who  attempts  to  mediate 
in  a  group  quarrel  is  always  in  danger  of  having  the  entire  group 
turn  upon  him.  The  social  self  of  any  member  of  a  group  is  essen- 
tially the  emotional  content  that  gathers  about  himself  in  his 
various  relations  to  the  members  of  his  group.  Those  are  the  con- 
ditions which  made  possible  the  almost  indefinite  extension  of  the 
blood  feud  in  primitive  society.  The  outsider  who  had  injured  any 
member  of  another  group  thereby  had  irretrievably  injured  that 
group,  and  at  the  same  time  had  involved  his  entire  group  in  the 
situation.  At  the  present  time  this  emotional  character  of  the 
social  self  is  at  the  root  of  patriotism,  loyalty,  love,  class  spirit, 
social  reform,  and  numerous  other  social  phenomena.     Any  indi- 


SURVIVAL   OF  THE   CEREMONY  89 

vidual  or  group  that  injures  any  member  of  the  group  witli  which 
a  particular  individual  has  identified  himself,  or  disturbs  any  of 
the  interests  of  his  group,  il>so  facto  injures  the  individual  himself. 

For  the  psychology  of  evaluation  this  has  the  significance  that 
in  determining  the  value  of  anything  the  ultimate  court  of  appeal 
is  invariably  the  emotional  consciousness  aroused  by  the  situation. '- 
Intermediate  processes  frequently  intervene  before  the  end  is  real- 
ized, but  they  will  not  be  set  in  operation  until  the  court  of  emo- 
tional consciousness  has  rendered  a  decision  in  favor  of  proceeding. 
The  economic  value  may  be  stated  in  dollars  and  cents,  and  thus 
has  the  advantage  over  the  immediate  statement  in  terms  of  emo- 
tion in  that  it  is  capable  of  exact  measurement.  Moreover,  it  may 
represent  the  means  whereby  that  which  is  valuable  may  be  pro- 
cured. As  a  matter  of  last  resort,  however,  that  which  is  valuable 
from  the  economic  point  of  view  has  value  only  by  virtue  of  the 
emotional  consciousness  it  arouses.  In  evidence  of  this,  witness  the 
fall  of  prices  on  old  styles  when  tlie  fashion  changes. 

The  place  of  the  emotional  consciousness  in  the  survival  of 
ritualism  is  admirably  illustrated  i\i  the  sacrament  called  the  Lord's 
Supper.  A  careful  study  of  this  ritual  according  to  the  forms  used 
in  the  Episcopal  and  the  Methodist  Episcopal  churches  will  not  fail 
to  bring  out  the  fact  that  the  ceremony  serves  the  consciousness  of 
both  worshipers  and  deity.  It  is  arranged  on  a  social  basis.  The 
ego  is  the  worshiper ;  the  alteri  are  the  deity  and  the  other  members 
of  the  group.  The  sacramental  service  mediates  proper  control 
when  it  reinforces  or  reinstates  a  proper  friendly  relationship 
between  the  ego  and  the  alteri  and  an  assurance  of  mutual  help- 
fulness. 

From  this  point  of  view  it  is  after  all  not  so  different  from  the 
primitive  common  meal  sacrifice;  for  here.  too.  the  object  was  the 
renewal  of  friendly  relationship  between  the  various  members  of 
the  group  and  the  deity.  There  is  actual  parallelism  between  lower 
and  higher  stages  of  culture  in  the  matter  of  elemental  needs." 
The  situation  is  one  that  depends  very  largely  upon  the  emotions 
ij'aroused.  If  we  assume  that  conditions  which  produce  peace  arc 
'desirable,  it  is  obvious  that  this  sacrament  must  be  '-»f  great  value 
to  many  individuals  in  a  disquieted  and  fearful  mental  condition. 

'-  For  a  view  similar  to  the  one  taken  here  ride  Wilbur  Marshall  Urban, 
Valuation:  Its  Nature  and  Lazes   (London,  IQ09). 

"Ernest  Pauli,  The  Tree  of  Life  (London,  1905),  pp.  260  f. 


9©  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF   RITUALISM 

They  come  out  of  the  service  assured  that  since  all  is  well  between 
them  and  their  God,  and  between  them  and  their  fellow-men,  their 
welfare  in  the  future  is  certain.  It  is  in  this  direction  that  we  must 
look  for  reasons  for  its  survival. 

A  description  of  the  ceremony  according  to  the  ritual  used  by 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  will  add  force  to  the  above.^*  On 
the  appointed  day  and  place,  the  elder  standing  before  his  congre- 
gation reads  several  sentences  from  the  Bible,  of  which  the  follow- 
ing will  serve  as  illustration: 

Let  your  light  so  shine  before  men,  that  they  may  see  your  good  works, 
and  glorify  your  father  which  is  in  heaven  (Matt.  5:16). 

Not  every  one  that  saith  unto  me  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  heaven;  but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven 
(Matt.  7:21). 

Whoso  hath  this  world's  good,  and  seeth  his  brother  have  need,  and 
shutteth  up  his  bowels  of  compassion  from  him,  how  dwelleth  the  love  of 
God  in  him?  (I  John  3:17). 

These  verses  tend  to  bring  out  the  relation  of  the  worshiper 
to  the  deity  and  to  his  fellow-men.  The  effect  is  but  heightened 
when  the  elder  asks  the  congregation  to  stand  and  solemnly  reads 
the  invitation. 

If  any  man  sin  we  have  an  advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the 
righteous 

Wherefore  ye  that  do  truly  and  earnestly  repent  of  your  sins,  and  are 
in  love  and  charity  with  your  neighbors  and  intend  to  lead  a  new  life, 
following  the  commandments  of  God,  and  walking  from  henceforth  in  his 
holy  ways,  draw  near  with  faith,  and  take  this  Holy  Sacrament  to  your 
comfort,  and  devoutly  kneeling,  make  your  humble  confession  to  Almighty 
God.^= 

By  this  time  the  dualism  of  the  ego  and  the  alter  is  complete. 
The  later  stands  sharply  deiined  over  against  the  former.  The  ego 
is  the  sinner  and  must  be  reconciled  to  the  alter.  The  confession 
follows.  The  worshiper  acknowledges  and  bewails  his  manifold 
sins  and  wickedness,  and  calls  upon  God  to  have  mercy  upon  him. 
If  he  is  taking  real  part  in  the  ceremony,  he  is  borne  along  on  a 
wave  of  deep  emotion.  Now  it  is  that  the  person  and  office  of 
Jesus   are   introduced   with   telling   effect.     The   elder   offers    the 

^* Methodist  Discipline   (1908),  pp.   363   f. 
«7bi(f.,  pp.  365  f. 


SURVWAL   OF   THE   CEREMONY  9I 

prayer  of  consecration.  The  bread  and  wine  before  him  on  the 
table  are  consecrated  in  remembrance  of  the  death  and  passion  of 
Jesus,  so  that  the  worshiper  in  receiving  them  may  be  i)artaker  "of 
his  most  blessed  body  and  blood." 

Following  the  consecration,  the  worshipers  arc  invited  la  the 
altar.  Devoutly  kneeling,  they  receive  the  bread  from  the  eKler, 
while  he  solemnly  says  : 

The  body  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  which  was  given  for  thee,  preserve 
thy  soul  and  body  unto  everlasting  life.  Take  and  eat  this  in  remembrance 
that  Christ  died  for  thee,  and  feed  on  him  in  thy  heart  by  faith,  with 
thanksgiving. 

A  similar  formula  is  repeated  by  the  elder  while  the  worshipers 
drink  of  the  wine. 

By  these  formal  acts,  which  have  direct  reference  to  the  sacred 
history  of  the  group,  the  worshiper  is  brought  iiUo  the  closest 
relation  to  the  deity,  and  is  completely  reinstated  in  his  favor.  It 
has  been  a  real  communion,  in  which  the  members  of  his  group 
have  participated  with  him.  They  are  brothers  in  the  same  house- 
hold, with  God  as  their  father,  and  therefore  all  is  well.  The 
worshiper  goes  on  his  w^ay   rejoicing. 

The    rituals    represent    group    habits.     They    are    the    group's 
favorite  way  of  reacting  under  given  conditions.     The  sacred  his- 
tory of  the  group  often  finds  expression  through  them.     They  con- 
stitute some  of  the  chief  interests  of  the  group  concerned,  and  are 
believed  to  be  methods  of  practical  control.    In  fact,  they  may  prove  I 
to  be  very  practical,  as  we  have  just  seen,  not  only  in  controlling 
the  group  as  a  whole,  but  in  meeting  certain  needs  of  the  indi-| 
viduals  themselves.     Who  will  undertake  to  estimate  the  power  of' 
habit  and  of  suggestion  on  human  life?     The  "sick  soul"  readily 
finds  the  ritual,  which  has  proven  so  efficacious  a  medium  of  relief 
in  its  own  group,  an  acceptable  and  efficient  method  of  cure  for 
itself.     The  more  abrupt  and  striking  the  incursion  from  the  sub- ' 
consciousness  into  the  focus  of  attention,  the  more  practical  an<l 
wonderful  it  appears.     It  is  not  at  all  vital  that  it  should  subserve 
the  original  purpose. 

These  sacred  and  time-hallow^ed  rituals  correspond  to  attitudes  , 
*<:common  to  the  group.     They  are  positive  elements  in   the  social 
consciousness  of  its  members.     Their  conservation  is  a  source  of 
no  small   pleasure,  and   their  disintegration   .scarcely  dreamed  of. 


92  .  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   RITUALISM 

Whenever  a  situation  arises  that  threatens  their  survival,  they  are 
at  once  referred  to  the  court  of  final  appeal  of  all  that  is  valuable, 
the  afifective  consciousness.  If  that  decides  for  their  upkeep,  and 
of  course  it  usually  does,  the  battle  between  conservatism  and 
liberalism  is  on. 

It  is  probably  through  some  such  explanation  as  this  that  we 
must  account  for  the  survival  of  the  elaborate  war-dance  of  the 
Iroquois  Indians.^''  To  the  observer  it  may  appear  to  be  merely 
play;  but  for  the  group  itself  it  is  more  than  play.  Morgan  cites 
the  following  speech  made  by  O-no-sa  during  the  war-dance,  which 
will  serve  to  illustrate  the  point: 

Friends  and  Relatives — We  have  reason  to  glory  in  the  achievements  of 
our  ancestors.  I  behold  with  sadness  the  present  decHning  state  of  our 
noble  race.  Once  the  warlike  yell  and  the  painted  band  were  the  terror 
of  the  white  man.  Then  our  fathers  were  strong  and  their  power  was  felt 
and  acknowledged  far  and  wide  over  the  American  continent.  But  we  have 
been  reduced  and  broken  by  the  cunning  and  rapacity  of  the  white-skinned 
race.  We  are  now  compelled  to  crave  as  a  blessing,  that  we  may  be  allowed 
to  live  upon  our  own  lands,  to  cultivate  our  own  fields,  to  drink  from  our 
own  springs,  and  to  mingle  our  bones  with  those  of  our  fathers.  Many 
winters  ago,  our  wise  ancestors  predicted  that  a  great  monster,  with  white 
eyes,  would  come  from  the  east,  and,  as  he  advanced,  would  consume  the 
land.  This  monster  is  the  white  race,  and  the  prediction  is  near  its  ful- 
filment. They  advised  their  children,  when  they  became  weak,  to  plant  a 
tree  with  four  roots,  branching  to  the  north,  the  south,  the  east,  and  the 
west;  and  then  collecting  under  its  shade  to  dwell  together  in  unity  and 
harmony.  This  tree,  I  propose,  shall  be  this  very  spot.  Here  we  will 
gather,  here  live,  and  here  die." 

This  and  other  dances  of  the  Indians  bring  to  the  surface  a 
remarkable  group  enthusiasm.  They  make  the  particular  group 
stand  out  in  sharp  contrast  to  all  the  others.  They  knit  the  mem- 
bers of  the  group  more  closely  together,  and  give  to  the  group 
courage  and  solidarity.  The  Indian  feels  that  he  is  still  in  the 
lineage  of  his  noble  ancestry.  One  could  scarcely  conceive  of  a 
more  powerful  appeal  to  the  emotions  than  this.  Morgan  men- 
tions a  mourning  council  of  the  Iroquois  held  at  Tonawanda  in 
October,  1846,  to  raise  up  sachems.  About  six  hundred  Iroquois 
were  in  attendance.  On  the  second  day  the  Great  Feather  dance  was 

^°  Lewis  H.  Morgan,  League  of  the  Iroquois  (New  York,  1904),  chap.  iv. 
^^  Ibid.,  pp.  266  f. 


SURVIVAL    or    THE    CEREMONY  ()3 

performed  by  a  select  group.  The  enthusiasm  of  the  group  knew 
no  bounds.  "It  was  remarked  to  Da-;it'-ga-dose,  an  echicated 
Onandago  sachem,  that  they  would  be  Indians  forever,  if  they  held 
to  these  dances.  He  replied,  that  he  knew  it,  and  for  tliat  reason 
he  would  be  the  last  to  give  them  up."'*  It  would  be  ditlicult  to 
find  a  more  apt  illustration  than  this  one.  These  Indians  are  keep- 
ing up  their  ceremonies  because  they  think  that  the  very  life  of  the 
group  depends  upon  them. 

As  long  as  the  rituals  take  such  a  j)lace  in  the  life  of  the  group, 
as  long  as  they  promote  the  group  consciousness,  conserve  group 
values,  and  satisfy  the  needs  of  the  individuals  of  the  group,  they  i 
will  survive.     As  such  they  may  have  highly  idealized  significance 
as    compared    with    early    immediate    reference ;    yet    they    remain  , 
instruments  of  practical  control.     And  it  is  just  because  the  group 
continues  to  realize  these  values  (in  varying  proportion,  of  course)  | 
that  old  rituals  subsist  in  the  midst  of  modern  environment. 

"^ Ibid.,  pp.  251   f.   (footnote). 


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